Amnesiac
by GirlOfLegend
Summary: Danny Fenton is lying out in the snow, his life slipping away for a reason he can't remember when he is saved by Vlad. Instead of killing him himself though, Vlad takes him back to his mansion. But why? DannyxVlad father son
1. Chapter 1

**As usual I don't own Danny Phantom. I would've but Nickelodeon wouldn't sell it to me!**

**"Life is a fragile thing." – (I couldn't find the author)**

* * *

He was lying in the snow, a numb feeling creeping up his spine. He'd stopped shivering a while ago. The snow around him was a growing stain of bright red, so different from the white shower that fell around him. Everything else he could see was white, with the exception of the tops of a few pines tree's in the distance, alive even in the deadly cold of winter. The white was kind of scary, in a way. There was no color, no life to it. It wasn't a peaceful color, like people said in the movies.

He was so cold, but there wasn't anything he could do but lie there, waiting for something, anything to to get away from the deafening quiet and the whiteness. The tension in the air was so thick he could cut it with a knife.

Blood ran down his arm, like some kind of grisly teardrop, turning the white into red as it dripped.

Danny couldn't figure out where the blood was coming from. It couldn't be from him. He refused to believe it. He felt fine, maybe even the beginning of peacefulness, besides the growing numbness in his body. In a way, the numbness was a blessing. Danny didn't want to feel right now. If he could, he knew he'd be in agony.

He watched the snow fall from the sky above him, some of it being caught on the branches, making the tops of the tree's white. It was hard to believe something as simple as a snowflake could be so beautiful. The flakes reminded him of feathers. A beautiful shower of dancing, white feathers raining down on the earth.

When did it start snowing? He wondered. Maybe it had been all along. He couldn't remember. All he remembered was him lying there, with time seemingly at a standstill, for hours. He wasn't even sure how he'd come to be there in the first place.

He was getting drowsy. All he wanted was to go to sleep. Just for a little while. Something in him told him not to but he didn't feel like listening to it. Couldn't he have just that one little thing?

Someone was walking in the snow nearby, heading in his direction, their footsteps crunching in the heavy snow, breaking the deafening silence like glass. He was curious about what they were doing way out here. He was curious about what _he _was doing here. He hated not remembering.

"Oh Daniel," a voice said sadly, now right over him.

Danny shivered, but not from the cold, when he recognized that voice. It brought fear into his heart.

"V-Vlad?" He managed to mutter. There was no response, just him being lifted off the ground by strong arms. He looked down and saw the red stain in the snow had become larger.

He quickly became the most alert he'd been in hours. He struggled weakly in Vlad's grip, to no avail. "Put me down!" he said as loudly as possible, which wasn't very.

"Daniel, stop that!" Vlad said to the squirming teen. "Just try and relax. Please." Vlad held something up to Danny's lips, tilting his head up. Danny tried to pull away but he'd already swallowed the liquid in the vial. It tasted sweet, almost like berries.

The falling snow slowly became to dim in his vision. The flakes seemed to change shape and blur. Their dance was coming to an end. Then everything went black.

Y**ou have no idea the time and thought that went into this chapter. That's how much I love you guys :) Will you review and keep reading? *puppy dog eyes ***


	2. Chapter 2

**You don't want a million answers as much as you want a few forever questions. The questions are diamonds you hold in the light. Study a lifetime and you see different colors in the same jewel.**

**- Richard Bach**

* * *

First Danny felt nothing, and saw only blackness. Mind numbing, suffocating blackness. Then he felt himself falling from somewhere and landing on something heard a thud and let out a gasp of shock and pain. He forced open his eyes, only now realizing that they'd been closed. _Where am I?_ He thought. He definitely wasn't at home. No bed, no one moving around downstairs, and his dad wasn't waking him up to show him some new ghost invention that could potentially kill him.

He was very confused as he took in the long, elegant hallway lined with large wooden doors before him. It kind of looked like something out of a horror movie. The walls were a deep red color and the floors were a dark hardwood. No wonder that fall hurt so much, he thought. The entire hallway was dark and shadowy.

"I'm sorry," said a voice, not unkindly."Did I hurt you?"  
Danny looked around quickly and saw a man standing a few feet behind him. He looked to be in his early forties, tall, probably around 6'3, with jet black hair. He looked like a guy that went to the gym a lot. For some reason he reminded him of Dash, though he looked nothing like him. Danny really hoped he was a good guy. He didn't seem like a person you wanted on your bad side.  
He tried to get to his feet, maybe make a run for the door,wherever it was, but his knees buckled almost immediately, sending him crashing to the floor, hitting his head on the wood with a loud thud, making him see stars. He tried to ignore the burning pain that was now invading his head and blurring his vision, and backed himself up against the wall, breathing heavily. He wasn't really thinking clearly. He just knew he had to get the hell away from this man, who was now walking slowly towards him, trying not to startle him.  
He tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but Danny slapped it away, glaring at him.

The man stood there for a second, then whipped something out of his pocket with practiced precision. Danny's eyes widened as he saw it was a syringe filled with a strange, bright yellow liquid only a moment before it was plunged into his arm. He barely felt the needle go in. But he did feel a cold feeling rush over his body, making him shiver.

Time seemed to freeze then. Neither Danny nor the man moved or spoke. The only sound to be heard was their breathing. After about a minute the man proceeded to take the now empty syringe out of a non resisting Danny's arm and put it back in his pocket, wiping his hands on his suit. A heavy feeling was coming over Danny's entire body. He actually felt kind of relieved. The pain he still felt in his head and limbs was fading to a calming numbness. He tried to move his left leg, to see if the effect would last, and found he couldn't. What the hell did this guy inject him with?

The man threw him over his shoulder with little effort and began to walk down the hallway not saying a word. Danny still couldn't move any part of his body. He tried not to panic and attempted to answer some of the obvious questions that we're swirling around his brain. Like, where the was he? And what happened? All he remembered was lying out in the snow, bleeding to death, and Vlad saving him.

Well maybe saving wasn't the best word to use. Arch enemies don't just save each other with no strings attached, at least not any that Danny had heard of. Considering Vlad's attitude towards him, it was more likely he wanted to use him in some kind of experiment. That raised another question. Was Vlad responsible for him being here? And if he was, where was he anyway? And what injured him that badly?

The man opened a door on the right side of the hall and walked inside, placing Danny on a huge king size bed with red covers in the middle of the room. Danny realized he was starting to be able to move again with some effort and looked around , keeping a close eye on the man who brought him here, who was watching him curiously from a few feet away, his hands clasped together.

The room was painted a deep blue, the color of sapphires, with a carpet to match. There wasn't much furniture, just a dresser and a wardrobe on the far left side of the room. Everything screamed of money and expensive taste though.

All of the signs pointed to this being Vlad's place but Danny couldn't understand why he was here, in a guest room, rather than locked in the lab, or dead. If he died,which seemed very possible, even now, he doubted the cops would ever find out why, or if they did, believe it. He could just see it in the papers now. Teenage boy killed by crazed fruit loop. That made him laugh, despite the situation.

The man, who was still watching him, began to walk slowly towards the door. Danny watched him back, and let him shut it, saying nothing. He didn't hear the tell tale click of a lock.  
He sat there for what felt like an hour, but may have only been a few minutes, clutching the bed covers in his hands, trying to figure out what to do. The door wasn't locked. Should he just try to leave? Could it really be as easy as walking out the front door?

"Probably not", he said out loud. "Nothing in my life is ever easy."

As if having powers that most people would fear and hate you for wasn't enough, now he had this to deal with.

He stared into space for a moment and, deciding he didn't have many options, decided to try it.

He got up off the bed , trying to stay on his feet. He could still barely hold himself up for some reason. He was just starting to take a step toward the door when someone opened it from the other side. Danny froze, his eyes wide. Dam shitty timing!

Vlad strode into the room, looking every bit like he belonged was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, an odd look for him. His long gray hair was done in it's usual fashion. He wasn't smiling, not even in his usual creepy way. "Hello Daniel," he said softly.

* * *

*** I hope this turned out good. Sorry for lack of dialogue in this chapter. There's more in the next one. Oh and reviews are always awesome to see :) ***


	3. Chapter 3

**"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot."**

**- Albert Einstein**

* * *

*** Vlad walked in, looking every bit like he belonged there. "Hello Daniel," he said ***

* * *

Danny couldn't speak. He just sat down on the edge of the bed, his baby blue eyes wide, with a slightly panicked expression on his face. He knew he shouldn't be shocked that Vlad was here. It made perfect sense, actually. It was his mansion. At least he thought it was. The odds of waking up in a mansion that wasn't Vlad's were pretty slim. But somehow, he was still speechless as Vlad sat on the bed beside him, seemingly trying to keep a respectful distance.

He said nothing and didn't move. What was his goal?  
Right then, an amazingly obvious idea came to Danny's mind. Why the hell didn't he just go ghost and leave? He mentally slapped himself. He could have been out of here an hour ago!

He slowly rose from the bed, trying not to tip off Vlad, and then started readying himself to transform and phase through the wall. The change didn't happen like it was supposed to rings appeared appeared around his waist , but they vanished almost tried again and got the same result.

"Dammit...," Danny muttered, stealing a glance at Vlad.

He knew the fruit loop had something to do with this. But he wasn't smiling or laughing at him. In fact, he looked kind of sad , his eyes downcast.

Sad that I couldn't go ghost? Danny wondered. Normally he'd be laughing, or at least smirking at his failed attempt.

"Why can't I go ghost?" he demanded.

Vlad stared at him in silence, like he couldn't figure out what to say.

Danny wasn't taking this. He'd figure it out later. He turned around, reaching for the doorknob.

"Wait ," Vlad said, his voice raised a bit.

"Why should I? You kidnapped me. I'm not listening to you."

"You really have no idea do you?" Vlad whispered, maybe to himself, or maybe to Danny. "Perhaps it's better that way. Ignorance is bliss."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked quietly.

Vlad's eyes widened like he hasn't realized he'd been talking out loud. He looked at Danny sadly and reached into his pocket. He pulled out something small and clear. It looked like a glass cube. He set it carefully on the dresser and motioned Danny over. Though he knew it was probably a bad idea, Danny went anyway. He was killed the cat, he thought. But I'm not a cat.  
When he got closer he could see the glass as the kind that had a picture in it.  
Encased in the middle of the cube was a small photograph of Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and him standing in front of Fenton Works, smiling brightly. Danny remembered having it taken. Mom had put everyone in their places while dad stood by messing with one of his inventions. She'd adjusted and readjusted the camera, taking over an hour.

Jazz just had to say that she absolutely had to have a picture of everyone together to take with her when she went to college, even if it was two years away.

So this was what she'd done with it. He reached out to touch the cube and saw a flash of blueish white light, completely overtaking his image of the world.


	4. Chapter 4

**I spent a lot of time editing this chapter. Enjoy! *takes a bow***

**Skulker: I don't care...**

**Me: *sweetly, while holding an ecto gun * What was that?**

** Skulker: No -nothing...**

**Me: That's what I thought you said.**

* * *

**"Mystery creates wonder, and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand"**

**- Neil Armstrong**

* * *

A flurry of images flashed through his mind. He saw Sam with tears in her eyes, her short black hair in tangles. She almost never let her hair get that messy. It was one of the few girly habits she had. He didn't think he'd ever seen her cry either, but now her eyes were red and puffy from sobbing. It hurt so much to see your best friend cry, even more because he didn't know why.

She reached out towards him with a pale, shaking hand. She did it slowly and carefully, like she was afraid by touching him, he'd break. She disappeared then, just flashing to nothing, leaving endless darkness in her place. He wanted her to come back. He wanted to know why she was crying.

The blackness that had replaced Sam faded and he saw his sister, her red hair loose and flowing down her back, standing in the kitchen, giving him a sad look. Jazz was rarely sad. She was always a ray of sunshine, even in the saddest of times. She was shaking her head, looking like she was holding back tears in her blue eyes. Why was everyone he saw so sad? What happened to make them like that?

She disappeared too, after a there was now was blackness, not a hint of light.

It didn't last very long. The dark began to fade into light getting brighter and brighter.

The blue light was back again. Before it had been bright, but now it was blinding. Then it disappeared, just like Sam and Jazz, like it had never been there at all.

The next thing he knew, he was looking up at a worried looking Vlad Masters from the floor. Vlad had his arms pinned to his sides in a vicelike grip.

"Get the fuck off me!" Danny yelled, trying to free himself.

Vlad let go of him quickly and he leaped to his feet, backing away.

"What happened? What did you do to me!?" he asked. This had to be Vlad's fault. But how did he do it? He couldn't find a logical explanation for any of the things he'd just seen. It scared him.

"I don't know what happened and I have done nothing to cause it ," said Vlad, sounding a bit confused himself.  
He started pacing around the room. "You just collapsed. I tried helping you but you wouldn't let me touch you."  
He turned to face him. "You were doing an awful lot of screaming".

Danny blushed and looked at the floor, all the people to see that it had to be Vlad.

"What did you see Daniel?" Vlad inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"What makes you think I saw anything?" Just because the fruit loop had saved him -and he still wasn't sure that was his intention- didn't mean he had to tell him everything.

"Well," Vlad mused. "Usually when children collapse and begin screaming for no apparent reason, it means they've seen something upsetting and frightening."

He decided to ignore the fact that Vlad had just called him a child. What he was saying made no sense. Seeing those visions of Sam and Jazz hadn't scared him. It made him sad but not to the point of screaming. He couldn't understand why he'd done that.

His gaze wandered to the glass cube, which was still sitting on the dresser. There wasn't anything strange about it that he could see. But then why did he have those visions when he touched it? Maybe he was going crazy. But he had his doubts. He needed time to think.

Danny ran from the room then, darting past a shocked Vlad, who reached out to grab his shirt, missing by a mere inch.

He had no particular destination in mind, just away from Vlad and that damned glass cube. He took a random hallway, hoping by some miracle it would take him to the front door. After a few minutes of wandering around what he thought were the same three halls of the mansion, ready to admit he was lost, he saw a door that was cracked open at the end of the hall.

He ran in and shut it softly. He didn't have the key to lock it.  
Danny stated at the room he'd entered. It looked like something out of a design catalog. There was a huge brick fireplace piled with unused wood with a big, cozy looking, red leathercouch facing it. One wall of the room was made entirely of glass. Looking outside, he realized it was night. How long had he been there? He was pretty sure it was during the day that he'd been lying out in the snow.

He pressed his face against the glass trying to get an idea of where he was and how long it was going to take to get home when Vlad's back was turned. All he could make out in the dark though was the beginning of some woods about a mile away. No other buildings. Not very helpful.

Sighing, he left the window and walked over to the couch and lay down on it. That thing was as comfy as it looked. He was pretty sure the leather was real, knowing Vlad.  
He heard the door open and someone walk into the room. At that point, Danny didn't care if it was Vlad or not. He was tired. He hadn't realized how weak he still was.

It was like touching the cube and having those visions gave him an adrenaline rush. For all he knew they did.  
He felt someone sit next to him on the couch. "Daniel, are you OK?" Vlad asked.

Danny tried to keep his temper in check. "Leave me alone," he muttered, rolling over so he didn't have to see him. He didn't have the energy to shout.

"I don't want to," Vlad said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He flinched as if burned.

"Little badger, are really that afraid I'm going to hurt you?" He asked seemingly hurt by the rejection. But that was impossible. Vlad didn't get hurt over things like that did he?

"I'm not afraid. Not of you."

"Yes you are," he stated. "I see it in your face, in the way you respond when I touch you. I suppose I understand why. Daniel I know I've done things to you, things I shouldn't have, but please trust me when I say no harm will come to you here. Please little badger."

Danny was silent. He didn't know whether to believe him or not. He'd considered the fact that Vlad might be trying to make him his perfect half ghost son. But then why was he being so... nice? From what he'd found out from Dan's timeline, Vlad wasn't exactly the nicest dad ever. So why wasn't Vlad insulting him or hurting him? He knew he was capable of snapping him like a twig. Ugh! All this thinking was making his brain hurt.

Vlad was getting up from the couch. "Come on," he said, picking Danny up bridal and officially making one of the most embarrassing moments of his life.

"Hey!" he said irritated. "Put me down!"

"Are you sure?" Vlad asked, amused.

"Yes I'm sure!" Danny was giving him a death glare.

Vlad laughed and set him on his feet, backing up a little. When Danny's knees buckled, he caught him before he hit the floor.

"You won't be able to walk much for a while," he said casually, taking the boy in his arms again."Frankly I was amazed you made it down the stairs. You must have had an adrenaline rush".

"Just take me back to my room," Danny said, not meeting Vlad's eyes. "And never speak of this to anyone".

"Of course my boy," Vlad said, smirking.

I_'m never going to live this down_, Danny thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter is in Vlads point of view. Changes in POV will not happen a lot but this one is neccesary so...yeah**

* * *

**"Forgiveness means letting go of the past."**

**- Gerald Jampolsky**

* * *

**Vlad's Pov:**

After putting Daniel to bed, Vlad Masters wandered the halls of his mansion, unsure of what to do with his time.

Normally, when faced with this predicament, he would simply head to his personal library to start a new novel or go to bed himself. Tonight was not the night for that. There was just too much on his mind, to many things left undone. He didn't even bother trying to sleep.

He began to pace up and down the hall, racking his brain for something to do. He thought about visiting Daniel, but the boy was likely asleep at this hour, like most people.

He doubted the boy wanted to see him anyway. Daniel was clearly frightened of him and hated him for bringing him here. But why wouldn't he? He probably thought the worst of him, considering their past relationship. That wasn't what he wanted, but that was what he'd caused.

Daniel didn't even seem to remember what it was that brought him so close to death today. Maybe he was psychologically blocking it out of his own mind. But Vlad couldn't imagine that what happened was so horrible that he'd have to do that. Daniel had seen many horrible things. Could one event really top all that?

Vlad was surprised he hadn't asked why he was here in the first place. In a way he was relieved because he himself wasn't sure of the answer to that question.  
Truthfully, he wasn't sure why he saved Daniel at all. It wasn't because he wanted him as a son (though he still did) or because he was his enemy. He had no intention of harming the boy, despite what he might think.

He was only at Fenton Works in the first place because he wanted to check up on Daniel, nothing more than that. He did worry about him.

Vlad hadn't even known he'd had the sleeping serum he'd given him. He remembered Skulker giving it to him to him as a bonus for something he couldn't recall, but had forgotten where he put it. He wondered how he'd never noticed it'd been in his pocket, likely for days.

It was pure luck on Daniel's part that he happened to be injured when Vlad was there to help. Considering the boy didn't want him touching him though, even to help him, he probably didn't think of it as lucky.

He never really harbored any true hate for the black haired teen, despite the terrible things he'd done to him. He wasn't thinking clearly when he'd done them. It was never about harming him. It was about hurting Jack for what he'd done to him, his once best friend. He hated to admit it but when he hurt Daniel he always imagined Jacks face in place of his. Jack was the one screaming in pain when he hit him, not Daniel. He didn't know how he managed to convince himself of that, even for a moment. He felt something he hadn't in a long time: guilt. Guilt for hurting an innocent fourteen year old who was only trying to help the people who rejected him, time after time.

Jack had taken away the only love he'd ever had, and made him into something he never wanted to be, even if he hadn't meant it. It hurt, even now.

But maybe it was time to let all that go.

Maddie had children and a husband that she loved with all her was happy. She may not be happy with him, but she was happy. Wasn't that all he ever wanted for her? No matter how hard he tried he couldn't make her love him. Maybe they just weren't meant to be together. It brought tears to his eyes to admit it but he knew it was true. He'd always love her but that love was never meant to be returned.

And as for Daniel, perhaps saving him was just instinct. Most people would help someone if they saw them bleeding to death in the snow. But it felt like more then that. He knew it happened for a reason. He just wish he knew why.

Vlad sighed, looking out a window at the night sky filled with bright, shining stars.

"Why?" he asked, as if expecting the stars to give him an answer. "Why did I do any of this? All I did was screw up my life."

He had no idea why, but he knew was that he could physically feel his own sadness, dragging him down like an anchor in the sea.  
At that moment he made a decision. He was going to see Daniel, asleep or not. Maybe seeing him would help him decide what to do with the teen. Maybe it would make him happy, if only for a moment.

When he opened Daniel's door he was greeted with silence. The boy was asleep, like he was hoping.

Vlad walked into the room as quietly as possible. If Daniel woke up now, he'd probably be scared senseless if he saw him.  
Originally, he was just going to come in, check on him, and leave. But he found himself sitting on the edge of the bed, stroking his soft black hair instead. He surprised himself. He wasn't usually this affectionate. After a minute Vlad awkwardly took his hand away, not wanting to wake the boy.

_He looks so peaceful when he sleeps_, he thought. It was so rare he ever got to see him when he wasn't on edge from fighting ghosts.

It was then he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted Daniel to stay desperately. He'd always been lonely, living by himself with only the staff, who barely acknowledged him, for company. Perhaps having a child, even an older fourteen year old, around would brighten his life and fill the emptiness he constantly felt within himself.

But how would he get Daniel to stay? He didn't want to forcibly keep him here unless he absolutely had to.  
He still regretted shorting out his ghost powers. True, the serum was far less painful than the Plasmius Maximus, and it was for the teens own good, but he could see how defenseless the boy felt without his powers.

Vlad stared at the floor, his heart heavy. He wondered what caused Daniel to get such a near fatal injury. Likely a very severe ghost attack. But which ghost? Whoever they were, he'd make them pay.  
He felt shocked at his own protectiveness over Daniel. Had he always felt that way and just never noticed it before?  
Hmm. Maybe by some miracle Daniel would want to stay, at least until he healed.

Ha! Going home would probably be his first request tomorrow morning.

Vlad couldn't let him go home though. Not when he was still injured and so weak. He couldn't even holds himself up when he walked.

Even if Vlad brought him back himself, how would he explain everything to his family? They both needed time, even if one of them might not realize it.

Speaking of family, he was surprised Jack and Maddie hadn't called about Daniel being missing. It had been two days. Usually Jack at least would have said something.  
Something was wrong. He could feel it. He got up from the bed and left the room, leaving the door open, for his study.  
He sat down at his desk and dialed the Fenton's number on the phone he kept there. No one answered. He left a message, asking how the family was doing lately and the children's wellbeing and hung up.

Tomorrow, he decided he would investigate further.

*** I know there's barely any dialog but that's how it's supposed to be- for this chapter anyway. He's living alone and the staff just aren't meant to be in this for now ***


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry, but I could not find a quote for this chapter. All of the others will have them, I promise.**

* * *

**Danny's POV:**

" Wake up!" a voice shouted. " He wants you downstairs. Now!"

Danny mumbled something unintelligible and rolled over in bed, covering his head with the blankets. His head was killing him. He felt like he was hit by a truck. Did Vlad's wake up call have to be now, of all times? The guy really knew how to get on his nerves.

"C'mon kid!" the voice shouted again, this time right in his ear." Please don't make this any harder than it has to be."

For you or for me? He thought. He didn't have much sympathy for the man who was waking him up when all he wanted to do was sleep. In fact he wanted to deck him.

The man was shaking him by his shoulders now. He wasn't giving up as easily as Danny had hoped he would. Figures.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," he mumbled, reluctantly opening his eyes.

Standing by the bed, his hands still on Danny's shoulders, was the man who had drugged him earlier with the syringe. His black hair was a mass of tangles, and his forehead glistened with sweat. His eye's were dilated and flicked over the room, as if searching for something.

"Uhh..." Danny couldn't find the words he wanted to say. He was mad at the guy for drugging him, yeah, but he was also wondering why he looked so... Dishevelled. It was hard to imagine one of Vlad's employees looking like this.

The man released his shoulders. "Go brush your teeth and hair. I'll be waiting here for you." He slurred his way through the entire sentence.

Danny didn't really want this guy taking him anywhere. It was obvious he was completely wasted. And alcohol didn't seem to be the only thing he was using during his spare time, judging by his eyes. But then again, who else was there to show him where he was going. Without this guy he'd be wandering the halls for hours. He decided to take his chances.

He was still having trouble walking and staying upright, but he managed to make his way into the rooms private bathroom, his eyes widening merely at the size of it. It was almost as big as the bedroom! And, as everything was with Vlad, it was not by any means, plain.

The floor and walls were made of a shiny black tile outlined with gold. Danny couldn't tell if it was paint or actual gold. The sink was sculpted out of shining white marble, like something out of a Greek temple, with the mirror in front of it spotless. The whole room smelled like lemons.

Danny caught sight of the giant walk-in bathtub in the center of the room and stared at it longingly. It looked to be about six feet deep and was also made of marble, to match the sink.  
If there was ever a time when he needed a relaxing bath, it was now, in this awesome tub. But Vlad's minion ( as Danny had taken to calling him) hadn't exactly given him a lot of time. Better to be quick and get out.

He stumbled over to some shelves that were built into the wall and grabbed the brush he'd found there. He turned toward the mirror over the sink to brush his hair and gasped, dropping the brush.

He looked sick, almost like he had the flu. His face was amazingly pale, and his black hair was messy, sticking out all over the place. He noticed his normally bright blue eyes were dull and watery, like he'd been crying.

Great, now he'd look sick and helpless in front of his arch enemy. This was just not his day.

There wasn't much he could do about his color or his eyes, but he could fix his hair at least. He picked the brush off of the floor and ran it through his hair, surprised at the lack of knots. At least one thing was going right today.

Satisfied with his hair, Danny brushed his teeth with a conveniently placed toothbrush on the edge of the sink. It was actually kind of creepy, everything exactly where he needed it.  
He took one last look at his reflection and gave up, walking out of the bathroom in depression.

The fruit loop's minion was standing in the doorway, drinking out of a large green glass bottle. It was already half empty.  
"You ready?" he asked, managing not to slur this time.

Danny looked down at himself, just now noticing the plaid pajamas he was wearing. Oh well. It's not like he was trying to impress anyone. He tried not to think about the fact that he hadn't been the one to put them on. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Good," the man said, sounding pleased his job was almost over. He headed out the door, stumbling all the way, motioning for Danny to follow.

He fell onto the floor once, but managed to get back up and catch up to the man.

The mansion was completely silent as they walked through it's hallway's. Danny wondered how Vlad could stand all of the silence. It was relaxing, in a way, but also eerie. It felt like there was something hiding around every corner.

"This is it," said Vlad's minion holding open a elegant set of french doors. Danny walked in, having to keep putting in more effort to keep himself standing.

Vlad sat on a big leather couch at the far end of the room, sipping something steaming out of a mug. When he saw Danny, he gave a small smile and patted the spot next to him.  
Danny wandered over cautiously, taking a seat as far away from Vlad as possible on the other side of the couch. He would have rather not sat at all, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep standing.

"You're still sick, I see," Vlad said. "I thought you'd be feeling a little better by now." He took another sip of his drink, looking thoughtful.

"I feel fine," he said plainly.

"Little badger, you're as white as a sheet, and I can tell you're having trouble walking."

"Why did you call me down here?" Better to get right to the point.

Vlad had a haunted look in his eyes. "I needed to talk to you. But first things first let's get you something to eat. You haven't eaten much at all lately."

There was no way he was staying here any longer. He focused hard on going ghost, waiting for the telltale white rings to appear around his waist. They didn't come. Fuck! He could understand it not working much, but twice?! The universe seemed to be conspiring against him.

He was pretty sure you he'd remember getting zapped with the Plasmius Maximus, even if he was asleep. That definitely would have woken him up. So what was wrong?  
He turned to Vlad, about to demand an answer, when he saw the green rubber bracelet on his left wrist. He didn't remember putting it on.

"I'm sorry," said Vlad sadly.

* * *

**I know it doesn't make much sense now but it will, in time.**

** Clockwork: Yes, everything will be as it should be.**

** Me: OK I have NO idea how how he got in here but I'll let him stay.**

** Clockwork: Thank you, author.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm so sorry this is late. I had writers block and a case of laziness. *runs as a fireball comes shooting out of the sky at me * I said I was sorry! *hides under table ***

* * *

**"Sometimes, the most unlikely people are the ones who end up helping you the most. Don't throw that away if their intentions are pure." **

**- Me**

* * *

Danny stood up, his legs shaky.

"What did you do to me?" He demanded, trying to make his voice low and threatening, while pulling away at the bracelet.

It wouldn't budge, not even a little bit. It stuck to him like his own skin and was just as painful to pull at. He stopped, unable to take the pain and holding back tears.

"I disabled your powers for an indefinite, amount of time." He saw Danny's expression and quickly said, "But not for the reason you think. I meant what I said Daniel. I won't hurt you."

He sounded sincere but Vlad _was_ a crazed up fruit loop and a talented liar. If he really wasn't going to hurt Danny it was back to plan A: Make him his perfect half ghost son. And he never said he wouldn't hurt his friends and family to get him to cooperate. He knew he couldn't' say no to that.

He could use any number of loopholes, and there was always the chance he just wanted to mess with his head.  
If that was the plan it was working.

Danny was about to yell some choice words at Vlad about his 'goals' when a blue mist escaped his mouth, sending a shiver down his body. His ghost sense. Why did it have to be now, of all times, when he didn't have his powers, that a ghost had to come along?

On the other side of the room, right through the door, Skulker appeared, a bulky gun with a faint green glow perched on his shoulder. He smiled with pleasure when he saw Danny.  
_Damn_! Danny backed against the wall, looking for a quick escape. There wasn't one, and Skulker was walking faster now, his footsteps the loudest thing in the room.

"Skulker, stop!" Vlad yelled sharply. "Remember our agreement!"

Why didn't he DO something?! He was perfectly capable of taking Skulker down.

Skulker completely ignored Vlad, and out of desperation, Danny ran for the door, slipping past him. He put his hand out to grasp the doorknob and was lifted into the air by his shirt.

"Put me down!" He kicked at Skulkers armor, hurting his bare feet on the hard metal. "Ow,ow,ow!"

"What's wrong child? Can't phase through my fingers?" He laughed and threw Danny over his shoulder with no effort at all.  
"I said put me down!" Danny knew Skulker wasn't going to give in, but he wasn't going down without a fight.

"No. I've waited a long time for this."

He became quiet and didn't acknowledge Danny's protests. They began to phase through the wall, to what Danny was sure was his death. That's when he managed to kick Skulker in the face.

Skulker held the kicking and screaming teen out in front of him.  
"You are becoming an annoyance to me, ghost child. If you stop struggling I'll make your death quick. I don't want to have to take you through the ghost zone like this. Walker will notice and then we'll both be dead."

He had one more chance. It wasn't something he wanted to do but he was out of options.

"Vlad help! Please!" But Vlad was gone now, probably not wanting to see the aftermath of this. Neither did Danny but he knew he was going to have to to.

Maybe it would be easy, and painless. Probably not. Nothing in his life was ever easy. He had to deal with it all alone. No one else besides his arch enemy and Dani had powers like this and he hated one and the other was less experienced than him. He rarely saw Dani anyway. It was a lonely life, or half life. What was he anyway? Dead or alive? Is it really possible to be both at the same time? Maybe things would be better if he just let himself die. It wasn't something he'd usually consider but this time was different. He was different. He stopped struggling and went limp.

"That's better," Skulker said. "This makes it easier on both of us."

He started to phase through the floor

"Put him down now!" A voice yelled, full of fury.

* Cliffhanger! I'm so evil sometimes. I won't tell you whats going to happen. But the storys not over yet! :) Review if you want to chase, find and hurt Vlad for shorting out Danny's powers! :D We'll form a mob!


	8. Chapter 8

**Yep I updated using a very thought about, and edited chapter thanks to all of the awesome reviews I got. ;) Thanks guys, I hope you like it.**

* * *

**"All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on."**

* * *

Skulker turned around to face the voice, stopping dead in his tracks. Not many people had that effect on him.

"But-" he started, but Vlad cut him off.

"Put the child down or I will destroy you where you stand!"

He sounded pissed! Danny really wished he could see what was going on, but he was stuck facing the wall.

Figures, he thought. Skulkers about to get his ass kicked and I can't see it.

Skulker was reluctant, but said, "Fine," and Danny was dropped to the floor, yelping when he landed.

His headache was even worse than before.

When he stopped seeing stars, Danny lifted his aching head and saw Vlad, in his ghost form, floating in the air with his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He was the most angry Danny had ever seen him. He was shaking, trying to get himself under control, and his glowing red eyes were as bright as stage lights. They was fixed directly on Skulker.

Danny was terrified. He'd never seen Vlad like this, not even during their worst fights. Normally he was calm and calculating, viewing Danny as an annoying pest, rather than an opponent. Now he was on the verge of exploding. And Danny was right in the red zone.

He had to leave, now, before thing's got worse. He didn't want to be hit with an ectoblast in his human form. Vlad had done that to him once before, and it hurt like hell. Besides causing major injuries, it could even kill him, if the blast hit him the right way.

He tried to get himself up, but promptly collapsed back onto the floor. It hurt, and he whimpered, but no one seemed to notice. Vlad's was still giving Skulker his death glare, which was evidently making him more nervous by the minute.  
"Just go," Vlad demanded, his voice low and even. The bright red glow in his eye's was fading back to it's usual light.

He was asking him to just go? He wasn't going to beat the crap out of him? This was strange.

Skulker complied and phased through the floor, as fast as physically possible.

Vlad looked over at Danny then, worry obvious in his strange colored eyes, and rushed over to the teen, putting an arm around him and picking him up off the floor.

"Hey!" Danny said, trying to pry Vlad's arm away from his waist. "I do not like being lifted!"

"To bad," he said. "You'll have to deal with it." He was smirking as he said it.  
_ He's enjoying this!_ That pissed Danny off and also creeped him out a little. Why was he enjoying this? Vlad wasn't that crazy... right?

Maybe he just was going to spread the word all over the ghost zone on how he had to save the poor defenseless ghost kid from a hunter. It was something he could see Vlad doing. It was also yet another thing he would never live down.

Vlad carried him over to the couch and set him down, taking a seat next to him. His drink was still on the coffee table, though it had stopped steaming a while ago.

Danny scrambled into a sitting position and leaned as far away from the older halfa as he could get. The whole situation was becoming a little too overwhelming for him.

"Daniel," Vlad began, putting a hand on the teens shoulder, which was slapped away immediately. He sighed and continued talking. "I know you have many questions and not knowing any of the answers is probably very stressful for you. So how about you ask me a question and I'll answer it as I see fit?"

_As he saw fit?_ That meant he was only going to get half the truth, maybe none at all. He would have to figure out what was the truth and what was lies on his own, hopefully soon. He'd have to take the chance.

"Alright," he agreed, crossing his arms over his chest. "What's wrong with me? I haven't been able to walk since I got here and my head hasn't stopped hurting all morning. He rubbed his forehead for emphasis.

"That was the one question I foolishly hoped you wouldn't ask," Vlad muttered, his head in his hands.

"Well?" Danny asked with an annoyed tone. "Tell me. You said you would."

"I-" he started but then changed his choice of words. "You're... more than sick, my dear boy. Last night I ran some tests-"  
He saw Danny's disturbed look. "It was necessary- and I found something in your blood that's not supposed to be there." He was silent for a while, his hands clasped together.

"Little badger, someone injected you with something- likely on the day I saved you- that's... killing your red blood cells. After a while..." His voice trailed off, not able to say what Danny already knew.

He wasn't just sick, he was dying. His headaches, not being able to walk: it had been a part something so much bigger than he ever would have thought. Something that could end his life. Or the other half of it, he thought bitterly. Maybe this was just finishing what he'd started that day when he stepped into the portal.

He didn't really understand why people held so tightly onto life when in reality, it was one of the most painful things in the world. All it does is take away what you love most, like his humanity, and leave you full of what-ifs. What if he hadn't stepped into the portal? What if he hadn't died?

And what if he hadn't come back?

Would he have gone somewhere after his death, or stuck around like Ember, Johnny and Kitty, trying to finish what they never got to do in life. He felt sorry for them.

It must a lonely existence not being able to be with your loved ones, but having to watch them move on without you. They must have gone through it. How many years had it been since they died, anyway? He never bothered to ask. He felt like he should have.

"How much time do I have left?" He asked blankly.

"I'm not letting you die," Vlad said, and pulled him into a hug.

* * *

**Ok I almost cried writing this end of this chapter. And no this isn't how it ends. There's going to be a lot more. Also, *cough, cough * review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I am SO sorry it took me so long to , but my Vlad and Danny muses ABANDONED me! *glares at Vlad and Danny***

**Vlad: My dear girl, I go where I want, when I want.**

** Danny: I was... well I was just wandering around. Turns out Canada's an awesome place to vacation! And I bought Skittles there *opens bag of skittles and throws them at Vlad* TASTE THE RAINBOW!**

** Vlad: *ducks to avoid Skittles * Daniel WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?**

** Danny: Getting you to taste the rainbow! *continues to throw skittles ***

** Me: Yep my muses are strange. But I love them. Except when they leave me for CANADIAN SKITTLES! **

**Danny: *hurt * I'm sorry. Want a bag of skittles? *holds out bag of skittles ***

**Me: You are forgiven. *starts throwing skittles at Vlad ***

**Vlad: Oh great Daniel now you've go her doing it!**

** Me and Danny together: *pelt Vlad with Skittles * TASTE THE RAINBOW!**

** Vlad: I hate teenagers sometimes!**

** Me and Danny: *smile * We know. But YOU LOVE US!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Danny Phantom. Or Skittles.**

* * *

**"I may not have wanted this life, but it is mine. The what ifs are what it could have been, but can't."**

**- Me**

* * *

Danny stared at the ice cubes in his glass, watching as they bobbed up and down in the iced tea, clinking together every once in a while. They'd be melted soon, just another part of the drink.

"Daniel?"

Danny looked across the table at Vlad, sipping his hot coffee causally, the steam rising around his face like a curtain. His eyebrows were scrunched together in concern and he'd spilled some of the coffee on the front of his crisp white shirt, creating a spot of brown.

"You haven't said a word all morning," he said. "Are you feeling all right?"

Over the past two days Danny had been there, Vlad was showing what seemed like genuine concern for the teen, helping him up, making attempts to 'bond' with him which Danny rejected with a hard stare. It was confusing ( and a little creepy), even more so by the fact that Vlad wouldn't let him leave. He had had said it was for his own good, that he was too weak to go out on his own, but Danny still had to wonder why he even cared, if that really was the reason.

Grudgingly , he had to admit to himself thst Vlad _was_ right about him being weak however. He hadn't even tried to leave. He knew Vlad would just drag him back. Knowing how fast the man could go from nice and caring, back to the cold enemy he knew so well, made him increasingly wary of the older man. Danny didn't really want to be the one to get him angry

"Daniel," Vlad said again, louder, jolting him out of his musings. "Are you all right?"

He had put his coffee down on the kitchen table and had stood up from the gray eyes were alight with nervousness, but also held a hint of doubt, like he wasn't sure whether he should be asking the question.

In truth Danny wasn't all right at all. Vlad had promised him he would be fine, that he'd be cured soon. He highly doubted it. Vlad may have had an elite team of scientists working on it 24/7, for all he knew, not that it was helping much.

Danny had been feeling slightly worse in the past two days, which had evidently shocked both him and Vlad, to the point where the older halfa forbade him from going ghost, no matter how much better he felt when he did, as to not speed up the process of the disease. The symptoms were getting worse anyway though, and Danny didn't really see the point. His headaches were more frequent, and his walking ability was at best, the same as before, if not worse. He'd taken to lying in in bed and on the couch a lot.

During dinner the night before Vlad had remarked on how little Danny was eating, to which he'd replied he wasn't hungry. He hadn't felt like eating much at all lately, even though Vlad's chef made everything look delicious. He just tastelessly pushed his food around his plate with his fork, waiting for Vlad to leave the table so he could be alone with his thoughts.

Why was he close to death that night?And who poisoned him ? Wouldn't it have been easier to just kill him when he was injured? Why use poison?"And why did it seem that Sam and Tucker weren't even making an effort to find him? He thought he'd have at least heard Vlad complain about them meddling but he hadn't said a thing. Wouldn't Vlad's at least be the second place they'd look for him? Unless they weren't looking for him. Why wouldn't they though? They were best friends! But if they weren't alive to look... Whatever attacked him did some damage. If Sam and Tucker were there with him when things went down...

No! He attempted to keep dark thoughts like that out of his mind. They were impossible and not worth thinking about.  
But there had to be explanations for these things and they were just something he _had_ to know. But those thoughts were very personal, and no matter how much Vlad may want him to, he wasn't sharing them.

"I'm fine."

Vlad narrowed his eyes at Danny's statement and clasped his hands together. "I how you'll realize soon that you can trust me little badger. If I wanted you dead or harmed, I would've done it a while ago."

Danny said nothing, just got up and exited the room, letting the elegant french doors slam behind him.

Stopping his trek down the hallway, he looked out the window at the woods in the distance, wistfully. He wanted to be out there, flying through the maze of trees, holding his hands out to brush the rough leaves of autumn as he passed. Feeling the wind on his face, blowing his snow-white hair in its currents, floating so high up he could touch the treetops, was about as close to freedom as Danny ever felt.

He knew he wasn't really free though. You couldn't really ever be free, with all of the things in your life holding you back, even if they were things you loved with all your being. It was like having chains wrapped around your heart, and not being able to break them. Not even knowing if you wanted to break them. Even if you did somehow succeed in breaking free of those chains, there would always that what-if in the back of your mind, the question of what would've happened if you'd chosen different. Would it have been better or worse?

Would Danny's life had been better if he never stepped into that portal, never flipped the switch and turned it on? What if he never died?

With his hand pressed up against the cold glass of the window though, Danny still craved even the illusion of freedom though, of being able to just soar through the skies for no reason at all but to experience that feeling.

Maybe he could just try to go flying, just for couple of minutes. He could even head home, if he stuck it out for a bit. He smiled to himself for the first time in a while. If he was going to take a chance now was the time. Vlad probably wouldn't even notice he was gone for at least an hour.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^**I spent a while on this chapter, rewriting and editing. And I'm 14 and on Vacation right now so that takes some focus. Well anyway Review people :) . And let me know if you want to join in my quest to pelt Vlad Masters with Skittles. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Hiii everybody! My muses decided to cooperate with me today so I could write this chapter!**

**Vlad: No we didn't. You-**

**Me: SKITTLES TIME! *from behind a curtain fgirl2211 and Kasena step out, each holding a bag of skittles ***

** Vlad: *look of horror * oh NO...**

**Me: FIRE AWAY! *throws an endless supply of skittles at him***

**Vlad: Stop it! Now! *tries to crawl away ***

**Fgirl2211: *smirking, loads her tennis ball launcher with Skittles* Oh heck no! *unleashes assault of Skittles on Vlad, throwing him into the wall ***

** Vlad: HAVE MERCY!**

**Kasena: NEVER! *Skittles fly from her hands enveloping Vlad in the rainbow candy ***

**Vlad: Now at the bottom of of a pile of Skittles***

** All three of us: TASTE THE RAINBOW!**

* * *

**"Life is full of opportunities, of chances. What they have already brought is known. What they will bring is a mystery yet to be solved."**

**- Me**

* * *

Danny backed away from the window, reaching deep inside himself for the familiar cold sensation that would change him into his spectral counterpart. When he found it, he smiled softly, waiting for the twin white rings to appear around his waist. They did, but fizzled out of sight almost immediately.

He frowned, his eyebrows scrunching together in confusion, before he remembered he had the bracelet on. He swore and stared at the damn thing in hatred. It was so small and it only looked to be made of rubber, but somehow it still managed to short out his powers. Figured. So much for going flying. But he didn't _have_ to fly to go outside did he? He could just climb out the window...which was on the second story of the mansion. He mentally slapped himself. But there had to be a way down _somewhere._ If there wasn't... well didn't want to think about that. He didn't know how much longer he could stand being trapped inside.

He walked over to the window and pressed his face to the glass, looking for a way down. It was dark and hard to see much that wasn't right in front of him. He could only vaguely make out a cluster of pine trees in the distance, the beginning of the woods. He squinted and leaned in closer, fogging up the glass with his breath. There! A wooden trellis. He could climb down on that. It looked sturdy enough and from what he could make out in the dark, went all the way to the ground.

He found the handle to open the window ( which thankfully had no screen to remove ) and gently tugged it upwards, wincing as it creaked it's way open. Hopefully Vlad was off in the lab or something and hadn't heard anything.

Danny pulled one leg over the edge of the window and looked down at the ground beyond the trellis. It looked to be about twenty feet at the most, with only the dead grass of the lawn at the bottom, covered with melting snow.

That was a long way down. Normally he wasn't afraid of heights, and twenty feet would be nothing to him, seeing as he flew all the time, but now, without his powers, the fall could seriously injure him. He'd just have to be careful then. There was a way out of here and he was taking it, even it meant he had to walk all the way back to Amity Park.

He put his other leg over the side until he was sitting on the edge of the will and reached to the side for the trellis. He managed to get a firm grip on it with both hands and took a deep breath.

_ You can do this Danny_, he thought, and let himself fall out of the window, yelping as his body slammed into the trellis, making it shift and rattle.

He held his breath, waiting for the sound of Vlad running down the hall to investigate the noise he'd surely just heard. He heard no footsteps however, and the other halfa didn't phase through the wall and grab him. He vaguely wondered what Vlad was doing so that he didn't hear any of what had just occurred, but he didn't want to jinx things.

Now he had to climb the rest of the way down, fast. His arms were starting to ache and he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out.

He moved one foot away from the trellis and tried to find a lower foothold to place it on. It was slow going, feeling for something he couldn't see but it was working. In about ten minutes he let himself drop about two feet to ground, his feet making shallow footprints in the snow.

He looked around and after seeing almost nothing but snow and grass, decided to head for the cluster of trees he'd seen earlier in the distance.

Walking across the lawn ( or field considering the massive size of it) Danny became uncomfortably aware of how cold it was outside. He may have ice powers but it must have been only twenty degrees out! That was too much even for him. He should have grabbed a jacket before he left. Feeling like kicking himself, Danny just tried to ignore the cold and keep walking. There was no way he could back in the front door ( not that Vlad even kept it unlocked. He'd tried.) grab a jacket, and just casually walk back out. He may be having some luck tonight but that was pushing it.

He'd reached the edge of the woods and stared into them, admiring the pine trees, their branches covered in piles of snow. Danny remembered whacking the branches when he was five years old, making the snow rain down around him like a fountain.

He smiled to himself. Those were good times. Sometimes he wished his life were still that simple, where it was so easy to happy, without a care in the world. Now it took so much more effort. He guessed that it was just life taking it's toll on him though. There wasn't anything he could do about it. Better to just take what came.

He started walking again, trying to avoid most of the larger piles of snow. His shoes were already feeling wet from it melting around him.

He took one last look at the mansion, checking for any signs of Vlad. He found nothing but silence and cold air.

A growl sounded behind him suddenly, making him realize Vlad wasn't the only thing he should be worrying about. He turned to find a black panther with piercing yellow eyes, crouched down on it's back legs and ready to pounce. It's teeth were bared, sharp as knifes.

Danny's eyes widened in fear.

"VLAD!"

* * *

**Yes, another cliffhanger. *hangs head in shame * I feel like a horrible person. But on a brighter note, I hope you all enjoyed blasting Vlad with-**

**Vlad: *emerges from pile of Skittles* *points to me* YOU! And those other two!**

** Me: I must run now! **

**Vlad: *chases me***

**Me: *breathing heavily * Review people! *locks self in room with a ghost shield and steel doors ***


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry if the AU's a little long. But anyway, Hi again my readers! I'm backkk! With friends *smirks evilly * We're going to annoy Vlad at his mansion!**

**Danny: *starts playing drumroll for introductions, but then one of the drumsticks flies out of his hand, hitting me in the eye* **

**Me: OWWWW! IT BURNSSSS! *starts running around in circles * If I die tell Danny... I'm coming back for revenge.**

**Danny: *look of fear * Better put up the ghost shield again... *calls out * SORRY! Well anyway introducing *drumroll with one drumstick* Kasena, Hoytti, Anddd tardis-blue-jay!**

**Me: *tackles Danny * YOU HIT ME IN THE EYE!**

**Danny: I SAID I WAS SORRY! *tries to push me off***

** Vlad: *yanks me off Danny* Don't touch Daniel!**

**Me: You weren't supposed to come in here for another hour! *shrugs * Oh well. KASENA!**

**Kasena: *casually walks up to Vlad with lit match in hand ***

** Vlad: *nervously * And what do you plan on doing with that my dear? **

**Kasena: *says nothing just walks closer to Vlads cape with match, smiling maniacally ***

** Vlad: Butter biscuits! * backs away slowly and trips on random pile of skittles * Ugh! What the- Skittles!?**

**Tardis-blue-jay: *smiles proudly * Yes. You will be finding them all over your mansion for the next two days. Along with a few of us, as we will be staying with you.**

** Hoytti: I feel kind of bad for you Vlad. You know the author of this story is legally insane?**

** Vlad: O_O**

**Me: Yes, yes I am. But insane people are fun uncle Vlad! *goes up and hugs him* We're gonna have fun together! We can watch horror movies together, and play video games, and you can take me to an amusement park, and I can use you as a test dummies for my new Gothic dress designs and-**

**Vlad: Wait, what was that last one?**

** Me: *eyes widen* Nothing, nothing at all**

**Hoytti: Poor, poor Vlad**

** Danny: I know right?**

** Me: Oh Danny your staying with us too!**

** Danny: *is dragged further into mansion by unseen force * WHAT!? But that's only in the story! *disappears around corner ***

** Hoytti: DANNY! *runs after him***

**Me: It's gonna be a longggg two days.**

* * *

**"And all the winds go sighing, for sweet things dying."**

**- Christina Rossetti**

* * *

"VLAD!"

Danny's yell caused a group of crows that were resting in a nearby pine tree to spread their wings and fly away, a sudden burst of black in the gray sky. Danny wished he could do the same.

Their caws were the only sound in the forest, besides the snarls of the huge black panther, which was now advancing slowly on Danny, it's head low to the ground, yellow eyes locked on its target.

The teen looked around frantically for something to fight with, maybe a large branch that had broken off one of the trees or a rock. But the snow all around him was completely bare, as far as he could see.

The panther was almost on him when it stopped moving then just stared at him with it's yellow eyes, calculating it's next move. Danny stared back, hoping by some miracle it would leave to go find better prey.

No such luck. It seemed to decide that now was the time to end the defenseless teen in front of it and leaped forward into the air, it's huge paws slamming into Danny's chest, knocking him down hard into the cold snow.

He gasped as the snow hit his skin. He was freezing by now, in nothing but a T-shirt and jeans, and was shivering uncontrollably, mostly from the cold, partly from fear of the large black predator on top of him, which had just clamped it's jaws down on his arm, breaking the skin and releasing a stream of red from the wound.

Danny screamed in agony from the pain, putting his hands up to hold off the panther.  
It didn't do much good. His hands just bled from slashing claws.

The panther started clawing at his shirt, leaving bloody gashes across the middle of his chest, staining his white shirt red. Danny screamed again and tried pushing the animal off him with all of his strength, but without his powers, it was far to heavy.

_I'm going to die_, Danny thought. _I'm really going to die all alone out here. All the way this time._

It wasn't that bad of a thought anymore though. It was actually kind of relieving. He wouldn't have to fight ghosts everyday of the week anymore, or do homework, or worry about grades. He wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore. He'd be free of all that. He hated to leave his family behind but -like with so many other things- he didn't have a choice. Maybe it was better that way: He didn't have to think about making such a decision. He was happy about that, that he'd finally have some peace, maybe even happiness.

The panthers ears perked up then, like it had heard something of interest in the distance, and it looked down at him with absolute hatred, blood covering its paws and face, staining it's white teeth, and dripping onto the the clean white snow, tainting it. Danny had never seen an animal look like that before.

"Bert-Bertrand?" Danny stuttered, testing his theory.  
The animal smiled then, a human smile, and licked some of the blood off his arm, making the teen flinch. He could understand a real panther doing that, but _Bertrand!_? It was horribly disturbing.

"Yes child," Bertrand said, not bothering to use his ability to turn human. "It took you long enough to figure that out."  
"Let me go," Danny said trying to sound braver than he was. He needed to get out of this fast. He was losing a lot of blood. Where the hell was Vlad when he needed him!?

"Oh no I can't do that. I have the perfect opportunity to end your life here. Not that you had much of one in the first place. " He put his paw right into a wound on Danny's chest. "Why would I waste that kind of chance?"

Danny had to bite back a scream. Screaming would only make it worse.

Bertrand laughed in pleasure, but it was cut short when he looked up at the sky at something and stopped dead, not saying a word, just staring.

Danny could only hope it was a delayed reaction to his call for help earlier. Not many things could scare Bertrand, but he knew of one thing.

"Vlad?" He managed to say, though it was barely audible.  
"Yes Daniel," Vlad said, barely contained anger obvious in his voice.

Bertrand backed away from him then, and Danny heard the sound of him running into the woods full speed.

Vlad floated over to him then, looking worried and downright pissed at the same time. It was a strange look for him.

Danny felt strong arms lift him off the ground and he found himself looking down at where he was laying, and at the pool of dark blood that now occupied the space. He couldn't speak. He didn't know what to say.

He closed his eyes and shifted himself around in Vlad's grasp until he was comfortable and unknowingly rested his head against the older halfas chest. He was so warm...

"Daniel," Vlad said suddenly. "As happy as it makes me that you like being held like this we need to get back. You can't fall asleep now, it's dangerous."

Danny muttered something unintelligible and opened his eyes again, doing his best to comply.

"Ok..."

* * *

**Danny: *back from being taken by unseen force * Review, review, review!**

** Me: Dude what happened to you back there?**

** Danny: ...Did you know that Vlad has a room full of fluffy oink stuff animals?**

** Me: No.**

**Danny: Well I do. *shudders***

**Anyone else who wants to be in the Au( that I haven't already promised you'd be in the next chapter) I've made a second story completely dedicated to the Au's. Anyone can be in so just put in a review. ^_^ the title is How To Annoy The Characters Of Danny Phantom and it only has one chapter so far. We've started to annoy Vlad first *smirks * **

**The Au's on this story will continue after the next chapter with just me and my muses, but you guys always have a spot in the other story ^_^**

** Me: *is dragged off by unseen force * NO NOT THE STUFFED ANIMALS! *gone ***

** Danny: Don't worry I'll get her back**


	12. Chapter 12

**This chapter is possibly the most emotional thing I've ever written. It will not be the las**t**... You guys are probably going to hate me for the end of this chapter so I'm going to run for the hills after this Au. But for now let's torture Vlad for what he's about to do!**

** Writerchic: Yessss...*gets out The Plasmius MaxImus and uses it on Vlad***

**Vlad: *shaking from being electrocuted * YOU!**

**Me: meep *runs for the hills with Writerchic* **

**Sorry for the short AU but this chapter is a big turning point so...**

* * *

**"Acceptance of what has happened is the first step in overcoming the consequences of any misfortune. Sometimes, knowing when to give up is the real test of character."**

**- Edwin Mamerto**

* * *

Danny could feel the loving caress of the wind all over his body, brushing raven locks of hair out of his face like fingers. It was a biting cold wind, and was making his shivering worse but it still gave a wonderful feeling of freedom all the same. He smiled and embraced it, forgetting about the severity the situation at hand. He still felt the slick wetness of the blood on his hands, but he didn't acknowledge it. He still felt himself fading, heard Vlad's voice begging him to stay awake, felt the mans grip on his limp body tighten, but he just didn't care. He didn't have the energy or the will to anymore.

His feelings about dying had not changed in the course of only a few minutes. He honestly didn't care much if he died now, seeing as it was going happen soon anyway. Vlad wouldn't find a cure in time. That he was sure of. He just didn't have that kind of luck, never did really.

Ever since he was little, he'd always gotten the short end of the stick, whether it was as simple as his absolute failure at sports, to always feeling second to Jazz in his parents eyes. He was always the average child, maybe even below average, while Jazz was a prodigy, the image of a perfect daughter from birth. While Jazz was passing her classes with flying colors, he was just getting by. While she was already looking at college's at sixteen, he was wondering how he was going to graduate high school. There were as different as night and day, yet he still loved Jazz fiercely. And he missed her.

Where was she? What was she doing? Missing him too maybe? She was one of the only people he could see doing that. He remembered the time when she had insisted he go to the school councilor for his depression, her blue eyes full of love and affection for her younger brother, even as he proceeded to push her away. He'd hated her for suggesting that, but he'd forgiven her in the end. She was just doing what she thought was best for him. Could she forgive him if he had to leave her?

And his parents... he never did tell them he was Phantom. Maybe things were better that way. They would never have to live with the fact that their son was the very ghost they'd been hunting. Even if they did except him, he knew they'd feel the guilt of that like a crushing weight on their hearts. They'd hurt everyday, from when they woke up in the morning to when they lay their heads down on their pillows to go to sleep. He couldn't do that to them.

"Daniel!" Vlad said, his voice wavering. "Little badger, you can't sleep. You have to stay awake!"

But Danny didn't want to stay awake. In his heart, he knew things would be better, happier if he went to sleep. There wouldn't be anymore pain or worries. Then he could truly be free. He could already feel his eyes closing in fact, their last image that of the gray sky above him.

"I'm sorry about this," Vlad said, stopping their flight, suddenly, the wind it created coming to a standstill. "But it's for your own good."

And Vlad shocked him with his electricity powers, yellowsparks dancing across Danny's vision like shooting stars. It was only a light burst, but Danny felt it throughout his whole body. It was like getting zapped by someone after they rubbed their socks on the floor but one hundred times more effective. It made his eyes shoot open and his nerves go on overload. For a second, all he could feel was a burning pain all over and pure burning heat, like he'd stuck his hand on top of a heater set to a thousand degrees. It was one of the most painful things he'd ever it was just...gone and all he felt was the shock of what had just been done to him. How could Vlad have known that wouldn't have killed him in his human form!?

Vlad had landed in front of the front door of the mansion, Danny still limp in his arms and staring daggers at him.  
Vlad looked at him emotionlessly and opened the door, which Danny figured he must have unlocked earlier.

He hurried down the hall to the one of his many living rooms and carried Danny over to a brown suede couch setting him down, and grabbing something out of his pocket and holding it up to the light. It was a small orange pill bottle that he seemed to be studying the label of intently. Seemingly satisfied with what he'd found, he left the room for a moment and came back with a clear glass of water.

"Take this," Vlad said screwing the cap off the pill bottle and pouring two small green capsules into his hand. He handed them to Danny along with the water and sat down on the other end of the couch, tiredly sighing.

Speaking for the first time, Danny said, "I don't want to take these." It disturbed him that Vlad had pills in his pocket and that he was being asked to take them with having no idea what they were for.

Vlad turned his head towards the teen, an angry look in his eyes. "Just take the pills Daniel. Don't be difficult."  
Vlad's tone of voice was scary, like he was about to snap. But Danny wasn't backing down.

"Vlad, I'll take them if you tell me what they're for OK? A favor for a favor?" He was trying to be just a tad kind to the man who had just saved his life but Vlad didn't seem to see it that way.  
Rather, he got up from his seat on the couch and walked over to Danny, his eyes glowing a faint red.

"I do not make deals with children!" He yelled, and backhanded the teen across the face, hard.

Danny felt his head snap backwards, and, against his better judgement yelped loudly. His hand cradled the left side of his face, and he could feel tears spring to his eyes, no matter how much he tried to hold them back.

Vlad backed away, staring at the silently crying teen now curled into a ball on the couch, trying to hide his tears. Vlads eyes, their red glow now faded to a cool gray, went wide with the realization of what he'd just done.

"Daniel?" He asked, reaching for the child, still covered in blood, a trace of worry in his voice.

Danny responded by jumping up from the couch, his tears still flowing and still holding the left side of his face, and running out of the room. Vlad heard his footsteps running up the stairs a moment later.

"Little badger..."

* * *

**Flames will be used to roast these Gummy bears *turns gummy bears on spit * But criticism is highly appreciated.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm back with a long chapter! **

**My Vlad muse will be back later, as he is currently being chased by angry DP fans.**

** But Danny's here! :D**

**Danny: *looks at Vlad running from Fans on computer screen * Yeah that's right fruit loop Run! This is payback for the last chapter!**

**Me: *face palm ***

* * *

**"Out of suffering come the strongest souls; the most massive characters are sealed with scars."**

**- Khalil Gibran**

* * *

Danny was running up the stairs full speed, nearly tripping over himself in the process. He steadied him self and slowed down a bit, figuring no good could come from him falling down two stories of steps. He couldn't understand why Vlad didn't have an elevator, considering the size of the house. Or maybe he did and he just hadn't found it yet.

Danny's face was starting to go numb from being slapped so hard, and his legs were starting to feel weak again. Neither of those things could be a good sign.

He raised his hand to touch his cheek and examine the damage but pulled away quickly when he felt a sticky wetness coat his fingers. Turning his hand over, he saw his entire palm covered in blood, shining like it had just been dipped in fresh red paint. Paint didn't have such a coppery scent though. He wasn't sure if none of the blood was from Vlad's blow either.

He tried to shake that thought away and find a bathroom where he could at least wash up. He only knew of the one in his bedroom though. Vlad hadn't bothered showing him any others. Well it couldn't be that hard to find right?

But after wandering the halls for about ten minutes, feeling fainter as time passed, he had to admit his mistake. How the hell did Vlad find his way around!? Did he have a map?

Frustrated, he looked down at his feet noticed a small red splotch on the hardwood flooring, barely worthy of notice, but still there.  
_Blood_... Danny thought. How badly was he bleeding anyway? Apparently bad enough so that the blood formed small puddles on the ground.

He frowned and again thought of how light headed he was feeling. He was losing way to much blood, and he was starting to feel the effects.

He tried a random door, hoping for a bedroom with a bathroom attached, and was surprised to find what looked like Vlad's bedroom. At least it had stuff that looked like Vlad's. Danny went inside and looked around, curious. He knew the other halfa would probably get him later for getting blood on the carpet, but as this point he didn't expect anything less form him. The room was surprisingly empty for being lived in all the time, with only a couple pieces of furniture.

On a huge dresser that must have had at least ten drawers there was a picture of his mother in her college days, sporting a white lab coat. Danny picked it up and took a closer look at it. Her brown hair was long and curly, the typical style from the eighties and hung loosely around her shoulders, making her look relaxed. Her smile, showing teeth and all, said she was very happy when the photo was taken. Danny wondered what the occasion was.

The whole room was painted according to the colors of the Green bay packers football team, green and gold. Ten of the teams jerseys also hung on the wall, various numbers printed on their fronts. If Vlad couldn't have the Packers he'd just have all of their stuff instead and steal their colors. Typical fruit loop.

Danny suddenly remembered the whole point of him being there and face palmed himself, forgetting about the blood and removing his hand covered with the stuff, which disgustingly was starting to thicken into a more gooey state.

He grimaced and entered the bathroom, noticing the green and gold tile immediately.

"Yep, he's obsessed," Danny mused walking over to the large walk in shower in corner of the room. He doubted Vlad would care if he used it. And if he did, well there was nothing he could do about it so why worry?

He undressed and left his clothes on the floor, stepping into the shower and closing the glass door behind him. Thankfully, the dials for the water and soap were relatively simple and didn't take more than a minute to figure out. He only burned himself with scalding hot water twice, which he considered lucky.

He just stood under the powerful jets for about ten minutes, letting the water relax his muscles and wash the blood from his body. The water was practically pink with the stuff, once it flowed off him and onto the tiled floor.

After standing there for a couple more minutes, Danny twisted one of the dials, turning off the water. Then he realized he had no clothes to put on once he got out. He really didn't want to put his other ones back on, seeing as they were stained stained red and wet, but that looked like how things were going to have to be.

Sighing and reaching for a white, fluffy towel on a hook attached to the wall, Danny dried himself off and grabbed his T-shirt and jeans, slipping them back on.  
Before he left, he thought about looking in the large mirror on the far wall but decided against it, not really in the mood to see how bad he must look after nearly being mauled by a panther. So he just averted his eyes from his reflection and exited the bathroom.

He never expected Vlad to be sitting on the bed in his human form, hunched over and looking tired with his eyes trained on the floor. He'd recently changed clothes too, his once white shirt now a jet black one, the two top buttons undone.

Danny decided the best course of action was to just try and leave the room before Vlad could say anything and took a step towards the door, keeping a cautious eye on the other halfa, who was now watching him intently, his gray eyes following every small movement he made.

The moment he decided to go a little faster, Vlad was up as quick as a flash and beside him, holding his wrist in an unmovable grip. Danny started thrashing around, trying to get himself free, convinced that Vlad was about to seriously hurt him for running away earlier.

The man didn't seem mad though, just eerily calm, and maybe a little annoyed at Danny's struggling. He pinned the teens arms behind his back and dragged him over to the bed, forcefully sitting him down on the gold duvet.

Danny whimpered softly but stayed where he was, wanting to see how the situation played out.  
After staring at him for minute, Vlad seemed to decide he wasn't going to make a run for the door and sat down beside him, looking at him with tired eyes.

"I'm not going to say I'm sorry," He said. "It won't change anything. But I will say I... regret what I did."  
He had trouble getting the words out. He clearly wasn't used to regretting anything, especially not something he did to Danny. So why did he?

Danny shifted uncomfortably in his seat, wanting more than to leave the room.

"Daniel," Vlad began. "Those pills were not poison you know. They were simply painkillers for your injuries."

Yeah right, Danny thought. No matter what Vlad had done for him, even saving his life, he didn't think he could ever trust the billionaire. There was just too much bad history between them. He may have told him before that everyone deserves a second chance, even after he'd destroyed so many lives, but that was said to a different man than the one who sat beside him now, in a different time.

Was it even possible for Vlad to truly regret all of the bad things he'd done, practically half his life, and deserve a second chance? He wasn't sure anymore.

A hand pressed two small green pills into his palm, and closed his fingers over them. The so called 'painkillers'.

"Please little badger?" Vlad asked, desperation in his voice.

But desperation for what? His healing, or his death?  
He stared down at the pills again, and on a split second decision, popped them into his mouth, swallowing them without water. He felt like gagging when the dry capsules entered his throat, but he crushed the impulse he was lucky, the pills would turn out to be lethal.

Vlad smiled warmly at him and ruffled his hair, making him flinch away. He didn't feel comfortable with the other halfa touching him. It made him feel threatened. When he picked him up in the woods he didn't really have any other options but to go along with being carried.  
He hoped that incident would never be brought up in conversation , but with his luck it would be a daily topic. Not that he'd be staying much longer.

His attempted escape may have failed this time, but he'd have another chance. He just had to wait. He gave himself about three months tops, and he needed to see his family again before his time was up.  
He couldn't leave them wondering what happened to their son. He wouldn't tell them he was Phantom, he couldn't, but he could say just had to leave for a while. That he wouldn't be coming back. Letting them know he'd be OK was better than telling them the truth. It was would hurt them less.  
As Danny raised his eyes to look at Vlad, to see what he felt about his sudden silence, something caught his eyes in the corner of the room, on the nightstand.

The picture in the glass cube, the one with his family and friends in front of his house. It was sitting on the nightstand, plain as day. Why did Vlad still have it?

He went over to it, forgetting about what had happened the last time he'd touched it. Vlad watching with mild interest, as he picked it up in his hands, feeling the coolness of the glass and staring at the faces of the people he knew so well. He really did miss them...

His vision was starting to get brighter now, giving everything a strange blue tint to it. He stood completely still, not sure what was happening .

"Daniel?" Vlad said, sounding farther away then he should have.

Danny didn't respond. He didn't think he could, really. It was like someone had pulled a switch, setting his voice to mute.

His vision was now completely overtaken by the same blue light from before. He couldn't help but notice the sheer beauty of of it, the way it glowed like the dying embers of a fire.  
It gave him a feeling of warmth all over, a sense not to be scared of whatever he was about to see. He didn't know how he knew that he was going to see anything at all, he just did.  
The silhouette of a person was walking out of the light now, coming towards him with purpose. He wasn't scared, just curious. Was this part of a vision?

As they got closer, he could make out the person more clearly now. It was a girl about his age, tall, and wearing a rumpled dark green T-shirt and grey sweatpants. She was barefoot, and looked like she'd just spent the day relaxing in bed. Her straight, long brown hair tumbled midway down her back, looking a bit messy, like she'd forgotten to brush it. She gave him a small smile and stopped walking a few feet in front of him, looking into his eyes.

"You're a good person," She said, of all things, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "I can tell."  
He could see her eyes now, and saw the teardrops flowing from them, making her iris's glisten. She wasn't even trying to hide they she was sad.

Danny wondered what happened to her to make her have eyes like that, so... broken looking.  
Then he noticed her neck. Multiple ugly purple finger shaped bruises decorated the sides of it, discoloring her skin.  
She caught him looking and gave him a sad smile, pulling her hair to the front of her face to cover her neck more.

"We don't have much time," she said and took his hand, leading him further into light, which wasn't as blinding anymore.

Her hand was so cold, like she'd dipped it in ice water, but Danny decided not to comment on that and just keep going. He had a strange trust in this girl he didn't understand. He knew she wouldn't try to hurt him.

The girl stopped and looked him in the eyes, gripping his hand harder.

"Ready?" She asked softly.

He didn't know what to be ready for.

"Yes."

* * *

**I bet none of you saw this coming. Just so you know the oc will not be a major character. I just need her one or two chapters. Oh and 'she' is actually me. I don't usually ever put myself in a story like this that's not a comedy but I went , "Whatever" and did it anyway. :D **

**Oh and Review you guys! It makes Danny happy! :D**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry it took me so long to update guys! I was on vacation. But I have returned with a hopefully decent chapter**.

* * *

**"The loneliest people are the kindest. The saddest people smile the brightest. The most damaged people are the wisest. All because they do not wish to see others suffer the way they do."**

**- Unknown**

* * *

"Ready?" She asked softly.

He didn't know what to be ready for.

"Yes."

The corners of the girl's mouth lifted into into a smile as she reluctantly released her grip on his hand, her eyes red and puffy as tears dripped down her cheeks, landing on her T-shirt.  
"I can't come with you," she said, shaking her head.

Her hair had fallen into her face again, strands of it hanging over her eyes. She made no move to fix it. She didn't seem to care.

"Why not?" Danny asked. It was clear that she wanted to. And he didn't want to leave her alone in the light, no matter how peaceful it was being there. It just felt wrong.

She sighed, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "Danny, I don't think I could go with you if I tried. This is something you have to do on your own. And you don't have much time left."

"At least tell me who you are," he said, a bit angry at her lack of cooperation. "And what is it that I have to do? And how do you know my name?"

"You ask a lot of questions," she said, a hint of sarcasm creeping into her voice. "And I can't answer all of them yet. But I'll tell you what I can."

She shifted her feet, looking nervous about what she was about to say. She seemed calmer now though: her tears had stopped falling, though she still looked pretty upset. "I can't say what you're going to see," she began, taking a breath. "Because I'm not really sure what it will be. But I know it's going to be something important."

She nodded her head in assurance, exposing her bruises again. Danny couldn't help but stare.

"Very mysterious," he said, already pretty sure she wouldn't elaborate.

The girl laughed softly, pulling her long brown locks behind her head, now fully exposing her neck and the finger shaped bruises. "I suppose you want to know about these too? I saw you staring."

Embarrassed, Danny looked at his sneakers, noticing a small rip in the side of his left one. He needed some new shoes.

"It's OK," the girl said, sounding sincere. "I'd be curious too."  
He looked up at her and saw she had a strange look in her eyes, like she was a million miles away. She looked like she was remembering something sad, her eye's starting to glisten with more fresh tears.

"It was a robber," she said, her lips taking their time to form each word. "He broke into my apartment through the window. I was home alone and woke up when I heard the window break. He did... horrible things to me and then killed me, right there in my bed. I still remember his hands locked around my throat."

She touched her bruises, running her fingers across them. They were marks of something that couldn't be undone. "My little sister was there too. He killed her the same way. I saw it happen, after I died, and I couldn't do a thing about it. I didn't know how. I looked for her everywhere, but haven't seen her for ten years. Since that night. I haven't stopped looking though, just in case by some miracle, I can see her again. That's one of the only things I really care about anymore..."

Danny didn't know what to say. What do you say to someone who's been through that? 'I'm sorry' just wasn't enough. This was totally broken.

He'd had a growing suspicion that the girl was a ghost, but actually hearing her say it was another thing entirely. It made everything so real. It was sad that she'd died so young. Sad that she never got to do the things she must've dreamed of. And she was obviously still grieving for her sister. She actually had to watch her die, watch the light leave her eyes. That wasn't something you could just forget.

Danny did the only thing he could think of: he hugged her, throwing his arms around her back, bunching up her T-shirt. It wasn't out of love, but out of respect. This girl had been through hell and back, but she still believed in something. She was still looking for her sister after ten years, impossible as finding her seemed. Hopefully someday she would.

"Thank you..." she whispered in his ear, returning the hug and leaning into him.

"I don't even remember the last time someone hugged me like this."

Her voice was full of longing for the love she hadn't gotten to feel, for the people she never got to say goodbye to. Why was life so cruel to this girl? What did she do to deserved any of what she got?

"I'm gonna find her, one day," she said, her voice cracking. "But you have to do something else. Don't get too caught up in what I've told you. You still have a life left to live. Use it."  
"You do too," Danny said, stroking her hair. "Even if you don't believe it. Make it count."  
He could only hope she'd be with her family again one day, that she could let go of the past and move on to a brighter future.  
She smiled and pointed to the direction where she'd come from, where the blue light seemed just a little bit way out, into who knows what.

"Just keep walking over there. It won't take long."

Danny nodded to her, taking a step forward. He didn't know exactly what would happen once he reached the bright light. Would he have another vision? Or go somewhere else entirely?

"Wait," he said, remembering and turning back to her. "You never told me your name. Or how you know mine."

She smirked. "It's Kassy. And that's a secret. Now get your but over there." She pointed in the other direction again, giving him a light shove.

Danny started walking faster, not forgetting about the time limit Kassy had mentioned. He wondered what happened when that time was up. Did the light just disappear? But then what happened to the people in it? Where did they go? Where would Kassy go?

"Kassy?" Danny said, at the edge of the brightest part of the light, turning to look at her one last time.

She was looking back at him, her eye's meeting his own in reluctant acceptance of what was to come. She was used to being left alone, but it still hurt her every single time, like a fresh stab wound on her already broken heart. She only held his gaze for a second, before looking away. "Yeah?"

"Are you going to be OK once I go?"

She didn't answer right away, choosing to look down at her bare feet like they were the most interesting things in the world. "I won't be OK. Maybe someday I will be, but not now. For now, I'll just exist. I guess that's what I've been doing for a while now. Just existing."

Danny nodded sadly, turning and walking into the brightness then, just barely assured that at least Kassy would still be someone, somewhere. Where that was he didn't know.

The light flickered out of existence, like someone had turned off a light switch, and, just like at the start of his last vision, left black nothingness in it's place. The black wasn't like the light. It gave no feeling of peace, but it gave none of danger either. It was just there, like a placeholder for the main attraction.  
The blackness didn't stay long, just like the last time.  
It blanked out in a flash of blinding white so that he found himself in his bedroom, sitting on his bed with it's blue comforter and pillows.

Everything looked the same as he'd left it, some clothes thrown on the floor, posters on the wall, and his door shut. His window was open however, letting shining rays of sunlight into the room and a slight breeze that ruffled his hair, pushing strands of it over his forehead.

"What the hell?" he said, looking around, stopping when he caught sight of a figure lying on their stomach on the carpet.

It was a girl, her long red hair spread out around her like a curtain. She wore a blue headband and a loose black, long sleeved T-shirt and was looking up at him from the floor, her mouth a straight line.

"Jazz..." he said, in barely a whisper.

"Hi Danny," she said, her voice warm and familiar . It sounded like she was longing for something, something she wanted desperately but couldn't have. Her eyes were trained on him, deep pools of blue.

She stood up and Danny could see that she was glowing very faintly with a white light that encased her entire body. She looked beautiful

But people didn't glow as far as he knew... only ghost's did.  
Danny got up and stared at her, not believing what he was seeing.

Jazz padded over to him in her socks and put her hand on his arm in a comforting way. It was as cold as ice, and sent shivers up his whole body. Just like Kassy's...

"No," he said in disbelieve, staring at her hand like she'd just reached up and slapped him in the face with it. "You can't be... Not you. It wasn't your time yet. I would've known sooner. J-Jazz? It's not true, right?" It was one of those questions that had an inevitable answer.

She nodded her head slowly and smiled at him affectionately putting her arms around his neck, giving him a hug, making him gasp from the sudden cold. But he didn't pull away. In fact, he leaned in closer, putting his hand in her red hair, so much like that of their mothers, just wanting to feel the touch of the sister he missed so much.

It was completely silent in the room for a moment as the two sibling embraced each other, tears trailing from the younger one's eyes, sorrows unspoken.

"Jazz what happened?" Danny asked, his voice breaking before he could finish the sentence.

Jazz brushed Danny's raven locks from his forehead and, not missing a beat said, "You already know. You just don't remember."

He broke away from the hug then, holding his head in his hands. So she'd died when he was still there, likely on the day he had his accident. "I know! And I need to. Something bad happened that day and I need to know what! So tell me!"

She flinched at his sudden outburst and sat down on the bed, crossing her legs. Her beautiful glow seemed so out of place in his plain, ordinary bedroom. "I can't Danny. You have to remember on your own."

"But I can't! Can't you see that?" Wet, hot tears dripped down his face, leaving dark spots on his shirt. "I don't know how to do this."

His sister took his face in her hands, wiping away a tear with her finger, and said, "You have to remember Danny. You have to."

The last thing he saw was the pained look in her eyes, and in the the way she frowned. Then she, and the his bedroom were gone in a flash, the darkness taking their place.

He heard the sound of someone sobbing, undoubtedly himself but he didn't feel anything. Just total emotional numbness.  
His sister was gone. And he didn't know how, or why. She had so much life left ahead of her, so many plans. Now she'd never get to do them. Maybe somehow there was a chance she would, in another place, but it wouldn't be with her family, with him.

That realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Could that have really been the last time he'd ever get to see his sister? And he'd just screamed in her face.

He was starting to hear someone talking frantically from a distance, and a bright white flash rushed through the darkness, obliterating it.

He closed his eyes out of fear, and when he opened them, he was in a different room, sitting on a leather couch, wrapped in soft blankets. He was still freezing though, shivers racking his body.

He was exhausted and could barely move to investigate, or maybe go search for another blanket, but from what he could see he was back in the living room with the french doors. There was a fire in the fireplace now, crackling and splitting embers. It barely warmed him at all, even though the couch was only a short distance away.

His head was killing him and he put a hand to his forehead, his eyes widening when he felt the heat coming from it. On top of everything else, now he was sick.

"Little badger?" a voice said from across the room, followed by the sound of footsteps approaching the couch.  
Vlad. Apparently it was possible for things to get worse than they already were.

Vlad appeared in front of the couch, looking shocked by his sudden awakening, and hugged Danny unexpectedly, pulling the teen into a sitting position and readjusting the blankets to put them around his shoulders.

Danny didn't have the strength to push him away, no matter how much he wanted to. Or the urge to make his headache any worse by moving.

Vlad put his own hand to Danny's forehead, pulling away as soon as he touched it. "You're burning up," he said, surprised.

Danny was debating whether or not to tell the billionaire about his vision of Jazz. He could definitely help him figure out if what she said was true or not. If he chose to help that is. It was possible he already knew and just hadn't said anything. Maybe it wasn't something he 'saw fit ' to tell him, even if he deserved to know.  
He had to try.

"Vlad..." he began. "I need to tell you something."

* * *

**REVIEW! **


	15. Chapter 15

**I was very hungry when I started writing this so food kind of made it's way into my writing. Hehe...**

**Anyway this chapter took some time but I think it came out decently. Oh and for a certain point in this, I will say This is not slash just a FatherxSon thing. Although I'm thinking about making a short slash one shot for SamxJazz... Don't like it don't read :). Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**"It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense."**

**- Mark Twain**

* * *

Danny sat on the red bricks of the fireplace, his hands around a large, half empty mug of hot cocoa. The chocolate taste was heavenly. Too bad there were no little marshmallows to be found in the kitchen though. But the one large one that floated lazily in the middle of his cup would do.

Vlad may have been a fruit loop but he knew how to make good hot cocoa. It definitely helped with the shivering.

The older halfa was currently in the kitchen making him something to eat, after his shy request for the hot cocoa.  
Vlad had suggested that they have something to eat and drink before they talked and had quickly accepted the teens request. Evidently, he was as nervous as Danny about it.

Danny put his hands around the base of the cup, letting it warm the chill that had been bothering him for a couple of hours now. He wasn't sure if he was sick or if his ice powers were on the fritz but he felt horrible. He was still freezing even with the blankets wrapped around him and being in front of the fireplace.

"Daniel," Vlad said, striding into the living room with a metal tray in his hands. "I have cookies." He put the tray down carefully on the coffee table and returned to his seat on the armchair across from the couch. "They're chocolate chip. Do you like chocolate chip?" He looked worried that he wouldn't.

"Yeah," Danny whispered, taking one of the cookies and popping in into his mouth, his eye's widened with surprise. It was one of the best cookies he'd ever tasted. It was soft and chewy and melted in his mouth, giving his taste buds the delicious flavor of baked dough and chocolate. Danny quickly grabbed another one off the tray.

Vlad smiled when he saw Danny's expression. "I'm glad you like them," he said. "Take as many as you like."

Danny nodded giving Vlad a wary glance. The cookies were pretty great, but the look Vlad was giving him was creeping him out. He was smiling in silent satisfaction at something. Was there a chance he poisoned the food? Remembering the now aching side of his face, he decided he wouldn't put it past him. He decided not to take any more cookies. Vlad hadn't even touched one, he noticed.

"So Daniel," Vlad began, his hands folded in his lap. "What is it you need to tell me?"

"Um...," Danny started, not sure how to phrase things. How exactly was he supposed to explain all this? Just saying something and hoping for the best was the only thing he could think of. "I've been having visions." He blurted, looking away from Vlad and waiting in anticipation for the inevitable question that would follow.

"Of what?" Vlad asked his eyebrow raised in curiosity.  
So Danny explained the best he could about the visions he'd been having, about seeing Jazz and Sam, about Kassy, and about what his sister had told him the last time he saw her.  
Vlad had no reaction as he spoke. He just sat calmly in his chair, his mouth a straight line, his eye's betraying nothing.

When Danny finished his story, he said slowly, not moving from his position on the chair. "I'm not sure what these visions mean or why you are having them. The fact that you were able to interact with Jasmine suggests that they aren't memories. But since that picture seems to trigger them, I don't want you touching it again. I'll look into this matter myself." His look was grim.

But Danny knew he had to touch it again. There was something he wasn't getting, and more that he needed to see, he just knew it. Just seeing Jazz and Sam one last time, and not knowing why, or gaining any information from it? Well Jazz had told him (and shown him) some things, things that seemed important but that couldn't be it. There was something he wasn't getting, things he still needed to see. He needed answers, and he was going to get them. Or at least try. No matter how painful they might be.

But he wasn't going to tell Vlad that. Better not to put him on high alert. He'd get his chance when the older halfa wasn't around.

"OK," Danny said, trying not to meet Vlad's probing eyes. He'd always been a terrible liar.

"Good. Now let me treat some of your cuts and bruises." He grabbed a black plastic bottle of something and crisp white bandages out a small metal box on the floor that Danny had just noticed. He also saw that he was trying not to look at the numb spot on his face where he had slapped him.

Vlad had placed the metal box next to the teen and removed the blankets, now dotted with small red spots, from around his still shivering form, throwing them to the side.

Danny was uncomfortable with him being so close and unconsciously moved back further into the couch.

"Now Daniel," Vlad said, pulling him forward by the arm with one hand, the black plastic bottle in the other. "I'm only trying to help. Don't be scared."

"I'm not scared of you," he lied, trying to look brave. He would not look weak in front of Vlad. "Haven't we been over this already?"

Vlad laughed at this, sitting down and pulling the teen into his lap by the waist.

"Hey! Let me go!" Danny blushed furiously and tried to pull his arm away, but Vlad wasn't having it. He simply tightened his grip.

"Little badger I'm much stronger than you and you don't have your powers. Do you really think that's going to do any good?"  
Danny kept pulling at his arm for a minute and with no success, reluctantly stopped struggling and stared daggers up at Vlad. He really hated him right now.

The older halfa smiled slightly and was able to pull up his shirt sleeve without protest, the smile disappearing when he saw the mix of fresh and old blood now covering his arm. He uncapped the bottle in his hand and placed the cap on the couch. "This is going to hurt, but it's for your own good." Then he poured the bottles clear, liquid content onto his arm.

Danny bit his tongue to keep from crying out in pain and grabbed the top of Vlad's suit jacket, squeezing the fabric in his hands until his knuckles turned white. Peroxide. It hurt like hell, no matter how many times he'd had to use it before.

He just kept gripping Vlad's jacket as the Peroxide was used on his other injuries, the liquid fizzing up into a white foam whenever it hit his blood. It seemed to go on forever before Vlad put the bottle down and wiped his wet skin with a handkerchief, moving on to bandaging his left arm and his chest.

"You won't have to keep these on very long," he said, putting things back in the metal box he'd brought and closing the lid.  
Danny was just relieved the whole thing was over. Now he just wanted to take a nap. Not really caring at this point where he was, he just removed Vlad's arm from his waist (which he actually let him do this time) and stretched himself out on the couch, his head on the older halfas lap. His eye's were already closing and he could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness.

He felt a hand run through his hair, a nice feeling, and heard a voice say, "Goodnight little badger," before his eye's closed for much needed sleep.

* * *

Vlad's POV:

He watched the sleeping teen, now curled up on his lap with a smile. Being slightly more gentle with him had helped a little in the end.

He looked cute when he slept, his black hair wet from showering, his chest rising and falling steadily underneath his T-shirt. He also looked more vulnerable and peaceful, none of the usual stress shown on his face. It was hard to believe what this child did on a daily basis, what'd he'd seen, when he looked like that. Right now he looked like any normal teenager, but he wasn't. He'd seen more than most adults.

He didn't know how he was going to break the news about his dear sister, Jasmine, to him. The boy was either in denial about her death or honestly didn't believe it. But when he'd gone to back to Amity Park he'd seen the truth, and he knew that the girl was gone. Somehow her ghost had contacted him in a vision, though he didn't know how, or why. Did she just want to say goodbye? Or was there something more to her message? She'd told Daniel to remember. Did she mean the accident where he'd found the boy? Or something more?  
He truly wished he could speak to the girl, but he didn't even know if he could, let alone how to go about doing it. Her ghost likely wasn't in the ghost zone. She would have tried to contact her brother through there, if she was.

He put his head in his hands, frustrated. What was going on?

* * *

**Review, review, review fellow DP fans! How do you guys like the story so far and is there anything you want to see in the later chapters? :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**The time that went into this chapter is amazing... I've shocked myself.**

**"The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth."**

**- Lao Tzu, _Tao Te Ching_**

* * *

**Danny's POV**:

When he woke up, Danny found that he was lying on something soft and black. It kind of felt like clothes fabric, but not something that he'd wear. He blinked his eyes, confused, until his gaze traveled upwards and he saw Vlad's face, his eye's closed and his head lolling to the side. He was on Vlad's lap.

He quickly scampered off and ended up falling onto the floor on his back. His fall had made a loud thud throughout the room, before silent besides the crackling of the fire.

Vlad didn't make any sign that he'd heard him though, just kept sleeping, his mouth slightly open as he breathed. He was still wearing his black suit, the jacket wrinkled in places from Danny gripping it. He was a surprisingly deep sleeper.

Danny approached him carefully, an idea formed in his brain, trying to making his footsteps as light as possible. The doors to the mansion were always locked and he'd never been able to find the key to open them. But what if that was because Vlad always had the key with him, rather than stashed somewhere where he had a chance of finding it? It made sense.

He ran his hand nervously over the man's pants pocket, feeling for the bulge of a key and trying to ignore how awkward this whole situation was. If Vlad woke up now he didn't know what he was going to say.

He came up with nothing in his left pocket and carefully shifted his hand to the right.

There! A small, hard mound disrupting the perfectly pressed fabric. Danny slowly reached his hand in, keeping an eye on Vlad's face for any signs of him waking up. He managed to pull out the object, pleased when he found it was a small silver key, the initials VM engraved into the shiny surface. Hopefully it was the right key.

He left the room as quickly as possible, not bothering to shut the french doors behind him. There was no point, and it would probably make a loud noise. He was heading for the front door, or more specifically the closet next to it. This time, he was remembering bring a coat.

He was out of breath by the time he finished descending the long staircase, hands still clenched around the end of the banister for support. He wanted to just sit down and rest for a minute. But he could do that later. If Vlad woke up now and found his key gone he'd be suspicious and come looking for him. He could see in his mind the angry red eyed expression as he opened his eyes from his nap. Not a very pleasant thought.  
Danny opened the surprisingly plain wooden door to the walk in closet, marveling at the number of coats that rested on their hangers, likely all expensive brands that must cost hundreds of dollars each.

He stepped inside, wondering who actually not needed an entire room dedicated to coats, let alone one the size of his bedroom back home. His eye fell on a black fleece winter coat that looked pretty comfortable. Touching the fabric, he found it was one of the softest things he'd ever felt, and weirdly in his size. It couldn't be for Vlad: the man was at the very least a head taller than his own five eight, and more muscular. Plus it just didn't seem like his style. So why did he own a coat like this?

"Probably wants to dress me up or something else weird," he said to himself, frankly creeped out by the notion, especially by the fact that he could totally see Vlad doing it.

He took the coat anyway, rather than look like a little kid in one of Vlad's over-sized jackets. The man would have a ball of seeing him in that. With any luck, he wouldn't get to see him in this one either.

Pulling on the jacket and zipping it up Danny walked over to the door, taking a look at the small key cupped in his palm and inserting it in the lock, hoping his hunch about it being the house key was right. The key turned in the lock without a problem and he was able to swing open the door, in awe over the vast night sky full of twinkling stars, still visible even from so many light years away. He could see the stars so well here, much better than he could in Amity Park, likely due to the lack of population and pollution in the air. He could even make constellations, like the big dipper and it's smaller counterpart, the little dipper. More snow had recently fallen too, draping the entire field in a perfectly flat blanket of white. The whole scene was absolutely breathtaking, like something out of a post card, and beautiful.

Beautiful. That's what he was thinking about the snow that day too...

He'd find out what happened once he got back to Amity Park. Someone there had to know something. His friends and family would have noticed his absence and investigated. Although only Sam, Tucker, and Jazz would know where to start looking. His parents we're probably way off target. He loved them but sometimes it hurt when they we're so clueless about his life, though it was his decision they didn't know he was Phantom. But they could've at least tried to figure out why he was acting so differently, why he was out all hours of the night, why his grades were failing. They barely made an effort. And it hurt...  
Was it normal for that kind of thing to hurt like that? Or should he just suck it up and deal with it? Maybe he was just overreacting.

He took a step into the snow, flinching as the cold wet stuff soaked through into his sneakers. Unfortunately, he found no snow boots in the closet. Knowing Vlad, there was a whole room dedicated to them too that he'd walked right past.

Trudging through through snow a few inches deep in only your sneakers was tough going, more so he couldn't see more than three feet in front of him with the dark, so halfway to the beginning of the woods he had to stop to catch his breath. He felt the biting cold even through the warm fleece jacket, cursing the weather.

He wasn't prepared for being lifted into the air by strong arms and rising about fifty feet. Danny screamed, more out of surprise then fear, and started kicking at his captor with renewed energy. "Put me down, put me down!"

"No." Vlad said, his red eyes glowing like lasrers and his cape blowing in the wind.

He threw the teen over his shoulder roughly and started heading back to the house in the direction of an open window on the second story.

Danny managed to kick Vlad once in the face- by accident but it was still something.

The other halfa shifted him to one arm and held him out in front of by the shirt with a gloved hand, watching him look down at the ground slightly concerned. A smirk formed on his lips.

"Careful child," he said. "I might end up dropping you."  
Danny stared at him, a questioning look in his eyes. He was kidding, right?

Vlad smiled and removed his hand, letting the teens shirt slip through his fingers.

"Shit!" Danny yelled, watching the ground come closer and closer, his raven hair blowing in breeze of friction, waiting for the impact that would end his life.

But it never came. Vlad appeared beside him in a flash, catching him bridal style a few feet before he hit the ground.  
Danny's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, his mouth opening and closing in shock. He couldn't put his thoughts together well enough to form words, but he reached up and wrapped his arms around Vlad's neck, scared of being dropped again.  
Vlad said nothing, just rose up to the window and phased through the wall beside it, making Danny shiver from the familiar cold feeling of going intangible.

Vlad stood by the window, staring down at the frightened dark haired teen in his arms with distaste, removing his arms from around his neck.

"You directly disobeyed me." He was totally serious, not a hint of sarcasm in his words.

Danny turned his head away, choosing to look out the window at the snowflakes instead, but Vlad grabbed his chin, forcing him to look up at him, at his burning red eye's.

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't find you? You're so predictable, my dear boy."

A whimper escaped Danny's lips against his will. How mad was he exactly?

"Where exactly did you plan on going? Did you honestly think you were going to walk all the way back to Amity Park? Are you that stupid?" Vlad had set him on his feet and unzipped his coat, shrugging him out of it and throwing it on the couch. He grabbed one of the blankets from the couch, pulling him close and putting it around Danny's shoulders.

"You must be freezing," he added, still seeing him shaking a bit and guiding him over to the fireplace by his arm, the flames almost non existent by now.

Vlad had him sit down on the brick mantle while he opened an exceptionally large wooden chest that sat next to him. It was full of firewood, big thick pieces that would burn easily. He grabbed three and tossed them into the fireplace, shooting a pink ectoblast to ignite them. The flames sputtered life almost instantly, rising high and licking the bottom of the chimney's opening.

He smiled at his work and turned to Danny, who watching him with curious blue eyes, still shaking like a leaf.

"Are you still cold Daniel?" He asked, taking a step closer to the teen, who moved as far away from him as possible. He wished Vlad would just go away.

"It's probably just my ice powers," he said looking into the fire. The flames danced, casting moving shadows on his face in a mysterious way.

"Well what do you usually do in this situation?" Vlad asked, watching him with concern, the anger faded from his face, for now anyway.

"I don't know," Danny replied listlessly. "Just deal with it, I guess."

Vlad looked surprised. "Daniel, the room became at least twenty degrees colder when I brought you in. Your family never questioned such a strange occurrence?"

He said nothing, hoping he'd let the issue slide. It wasn't even an issue, really. It was just the way things were. The truth was, he just holed up in his room curled up on his bed until the burning cold disappeared from his body, not bothering to come downstairs for help. What would he say? Nothing he could think of, without admitting he was Phantom. You can't always get what you want, and his situation was a perfect example. He wanted help, wanted his parents to understand, but they couldn't. They probably never would. He was on his own with that one.

Vlad had changed back to his human form unnoticeably and was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Well you don't have to just 'deal with it' here," he said, scooping Danny up in his arms and taking him into the hall, letting the doors slam behind him.

"Vlad put me down!" Danny protested, stuck looking up at the other halfas smiling face. "I can walk by myself." At least that's what he was hoping for. He hadn't been feeling all that sick today, besides being so cold.

Vlad laughed and patted his head affectionately, turning a corner. "Stubborn as always little badger. I had a feeling this would encourage you to show some more life."

"Where are we going?" He'd reluctantly accepted his situation, making a note to get Vlad back for this one day.

"To the kitchen. We need to talk, and you need to eat something and warm up."

"But I'm not hungry." He hadn't had anything to eat or drink but those cookies and iced tea from earlier, but he still felt fine. Maybe a little light headed, but not hungry.

"Daniel you will eat something. You don't look healthy at all, and you're not supposed to be this light. How much do you weigh exactly?"

"Um 115?"

Vlad looked shocked. "I'm surprised your parents haven't forced you to eat more or taken you to a doctor. You're underweight and it's definitely noticeable."

Danny looked away, tired of his parents being brought up in conversation. He just wanted to forget about them for a while and stop worrying. Of course Vlad was too dim to see that... or maybe he was just trying to get some info out of him about his home life. Well he wasn't getting it.

They had arrived at the kitchen, a large, spacious room with granite counter tops and a black tile floor that shone so he could see his reflection, well half of it, and upside down. He wished Vlad would put him down already. But the man seemed to be enjoying this.

From his line of sight, he could see tech appliances were everywhere, on the counters, built into the walls, with even the toaster looking like something out of a sci-fi movie. Tucker would've loved this, Danny thought, struck once again with the loneliness of missing his friends. He hoped they'd find him soon. He wasn't sure what he was going to do if they didn't.  
Vlad walked over to the table- made of emerald green glass- and plopped him down on one of the chairs. Danny looked at the table, noticing that the green glass wasn't just regular glass, but the expensive stained glass that his mom loved. It must have cost a fortune.

"What would you like to eat Daniel?" Vlad asked, gesturing around the kitchen with his arms outstretched.

"Um it's OK. I'm not hungry." He felt awkward, trying to find some sort of pattern in the foggy surface of the stained glass table. There didn't appear to be any.

"Daniel you will be eating something. Now do you want to pick what you're having or should I?"

He put his head in his hands, a headache blossoming at his temple. "I don't care what I have. Whatever's easier for you."

Vlad proceeded to open his shiny silver fridge and pull out something wrapped in aluminum foil, placing it on the counter and pulling back the sheet with a crackling noise. Inside was a wrap of some sort, about half a foot long with what looked like chicken and white sauce, likely mayonnaise, visible in the middle.

"Do you want this?" He asked, looking at Danny. "I most likely wasn't going to eat it."

"Sure," Danny said not really caring when he accepted the wrap from him along with a napkin, taking a bite. It was actually really good, kind of spicy like peppers, but considering his mood, he wasn't going to mention it.

Vlad watched him eat, making the teen put the food down and wonder what was so interesting about it.

"Daniel," he began, his eyes downcast. "We need to speak about your sister, Jasmine."

Danny's expression turned to one that showed a mixture of worry and happiness over hearing about his sister. Vlad knew where she was?

**Vlad's POV:**  
He was going to have to tell the poor child, one way or another. No matter how much it would hurt him. He couldn't just keep that kind of information from his little badger anymore. It would be like keeping him in a bubble, ignorant to the world. He couldn't do that.

Confirming his suspicions of his sisters death would crush the boys heart, but perhaps it was for the greater good. Daniel would be livid if he found out that Vlad had kept that kind of information from him and right now, he needed to gain his trust, not his hatred.

"Daniel, my sweet little badger, I'm sorry to inform you that Jasmine has-"

"She's dead, isn't she?" Danny said, his voice full of barely contained pain. He was barely holding back tears.

"Yes."

* * *

**As to answer some questions, I'm not sure if Danielle will be in this story (seeing as I don't have it planned out) but I guess it's possible. But I can't make any promises.**

** Review?**


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry for the wait you guys! ^_^ But this is possibly the longest chapter so far. And in this one, you find out what happened to Jazz.**

* * *

**"I guess by now I should know enough about loss to realize that you never really stop missing someone-you just learn to live around the huge gaping hole of their absence." **  
**― Alyson Noel, _Evermore_**

* * *

His only sister was dead, and he couldn't do a thing about it. He wouldn't get to come home from school anymore, and have her ask him about his day, wouldn't get to hear her laugh as he told her about something funny that had happened. He wouldn't even be able to see her smile again.

She was always such a good listener. But she wouldn't be someone he could talk to about his problems, ghost related or not, not anymore. She wasn't going to be at home when he got back to do any of that. She never would be again. Who was he supposed to turn to now?

His heart felt like it had a big hole carved right through the middle. He could actually _feel _it, right to the depths of his soul. So this is what it felt like, to lose someone so close to you. It was one of the worst pains he'd ever experienced, physical pain included. How was it possible for a heart to hurt so much? He was having trouble breathing normally because of it, ready to break down at any moment into uncontrollable sobs. He wasn't sure he wanted to hold then back anymore. Wasn't he allowed to feel pain, like everyone else? Why did he have to be the strong one, all the time?

Her death had made him realize something though. Life was such a fragile thing. Everything that happened in your life could all be ended in a second, by one small accident, one little mistake. It was amazing. It was beautiful. It was... tragic. He'd learned a similar lesson when he'd met his future self, but this was different. This was permanent, something he couldn't fix.

It wasn't fair Jazz had to die. Why couldn't it have been him? He wished it was him. A lot less people would miss him, that was for sure. Jazz had so much promise in her life, and people recognized that. Her peers and teachers would mourn her, like she deserved to be. The world would be a darker place without her though, at least his would be.

If he died on the other hand, it would be a different story. Oh, his classmates would mourn him, but only because that was what they were supposed to do. Normally, when someone died, you were supposed to feel sad, no matter who the person was. If you knew them, even distantly, you were expected to show up at their funeral, clad in black, and be miserable along with everyone else. Most people were, but that didn't mean they really cared. Sometimes they just put on a show.

Jazz had cared. She had excepted him for who he was, not just a hybrid, or a hero, but her little brother too. Knowing his secret had changed nothing in her eyes. That meant more than he'd ever let her know. So many people and ghosts had called him a freak for what he was, told him that he didn't belong anywhere. At times, he'd believed them. But Jazz didn't, and she told him that over and over again. The thought of living without her was almost to much to bear.

Vlad had been standing, watching the younger hybrid, sitting on the floor with his knees tucked under him, his head down, raven black hair hiding his face.

Hiding the tears, Vlad knew. He was still trying to be strong, even at the point when most people would have been hysterical. It was remarkable, really. But every person had their breaking point, and Daniel was on the very fine edge of his.

"W-why did it have to be her? Why did she h-have to be the one?" He whispered, his voice breaking.

Vlad put his hand on the boys shoulder, tears threatening to fall from his own eyes. That was a question that was asked by so many people. He'd asked it about his own mother, many times, after watching her life slip away in her hospital bed. It wasn't something he liked remembering, due to the pain it caused, but he did, all the same with clarity.

_His mother had been sick for a while now, with what the doctors couldn't fathom. They had told his father that she wouldn't last much longer, a few days at most._

_ But Vlad, even at eight years old, knew the cause of her illness. How could he not, when he saw his father sprinkling the strange white powder into his mothers morning tea?_

_ He couldn't understand why his father would want to hurt her, when he claimed to love her so much. But you didn't beat people you loved for no reason but existing._

_The third and final day his father took him to visit his mother, a nurse in a clean white uniform and stark white shoes came up to him, her mouth formed into a small frown. "Sweetie?" She asked, glancing at the door to his mothers room with worry. "Your mother said she wants to see you right away. You up for that?"_

_ Vlad nodded, eager to see the woman that had raised him, that had defended him from his father after he had a bad day. She'd taken countless blows for him. He'd always admired her for her strength, and her bravery._

_The nurse didn't smile with her red lipstick coated lips, but said, "Just don't excite her too much, OK?" _

_He nodded again, letting himself be led by the hand through the door and into the white hospital room, almost completely bare of furniture besides the bed. His mothers small form lay on the bed, a single clear tube running from her pale skin to the IV by her bed. Her blue eyes lit up when she saw him, the only alive looking thing about her at the moment. Her skin was so white it looked like chalk, her veins showing clearly through it, and her brown hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, strands of hair sticking up all around her head. All she wore was her thin hospital gown. She didn't seem to care. His mother was never much of a perfectionist._

_"Hi Mom," Vlad said, forcing a smile. He knew what was about to happen. He just wished it didn't have to._

_"Hi honey," she said, her voice soft as silk. "Come sit down." She reached a bony hand over to the side of the bed, patting it._

_ He did, being careful not to move the bed around to much._

_"Baby, I need you to be strong for me, OK? I'm not going to be around much longer, and I'm really sorry about that, but there's nothing I can do. It's my time." She looked to the ceiling , as if she could see a clock there, counting the precious minutes she had left. Maybe somehow she already knew._

_"But I need you," he said, tears flowing like waterfalls from his eyes, dripping on the sheets. He wanted her to be there for his life, to watch him have birthdays, graduate from high school. It wasn't fair._

_"You'll be OK..." she said, messing his black hair with her hand. "You're strong enough... I know It."_

_"Mom...please don't go." What would he do once she was gone? He couldn't just move on. He knew it would never be that easy. She was the one that kept him going when nothing else could._

_"I have to." She seemed to accept her fate now, laying her head back against her pillow. "You know I love you, right?" Theirs eyes met, and Vlad could see the love reflected in hers._

_ He nodded, trying to keep his sobbing as quiet as possible. No need to attract any attention. This moment was only meant for him, for him and his mother. She was using her last moments of life to talk to him, to tell him she believed he could get through this. He hoped she was right._

_She suddenly reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck, giving him a weak hug. He hugged her back, careful not to hurt her already fragile body. _

_"It's gonna be OK baby," she whispered in his ear. "It's gonna be OK."_

_ He held her, her head resting on his shoulder. "Be strong baby," she said, her voice fading with every word._

_ Then she went limp, so that he was supporting her completely, her arms falling from around his neck limply to her sides._

_"Mom? Mom!?" Vlad looked at his mother at her now closed eyes. He shook her, hoping she had at least one spark of life left in her._

_But she was already gone, completely still, her chest no longer moving up and down with the rhythm of her breathing. Her eyes were closed, and for the first time in many years, she looked peaceful._

_"I love you..." he whispered, his voice breaking with the realization that his mother had literally just died in his arms._

He remembered that day like it was yesterday, even though it was well over thirty years ago. He'd never forgiven his father for murdering his mother, and had moved out as soon as he turned eighteen.

The teenager in front of him felt a similar pain, he could see, as he sobbed uncontrollably now, his eyes filled with the pain of loss.

As for the boys question, however, he did have an answer, though probably not the one he was looking for.

"Life's not fair, my little badger," he said pulling him into his arms for a hug. The younger halfa leaned into him, craving the comfort. "It is cruel, but it is the truth."

Daniel was only a child, his life barely started, yet the things he'd been through would make most adults have a mental breakdown, in his opinion. He had to hide who he really was everyday of his life, had stared death in the face, had just lost his only sister, and on top of all that, the poor thing was dying from an unknown disease. If Vlad ever found the retched creature who had poisoned the child, there would be hell to pay. He looked forward to that only bright spot was that his scientists had informed him of a major breakthrough in finding a cure. In fact, they said they almost had it, only needing to work out a few kinks.

But the treatment would be slow, and need to be administered to Daniel in regular doses. In a way, he was glad. He wanted more time to get to know him better, to gain his trust and...well, he didn't know what he wanted after that. To adopt him? Yes, certainly, but what about the things in between? He'd never raised a child before, let alone a half ghost teenager. Perhaps now was not the time to be thinking so far into the future. He needed to be focusing on making the child healthy and comforting him somehow. Daniel was still hugging him, his head pressed against his chest. Vlad didn't know where to go from there. The boy wasn't himself right now. Usually, he'd have to force him to hug him.

After holding him for about five more minutes, he guided the younger halfa over to the couch, his eyes red and puffy from crying, making him have a seat and watching as he curled up into a ball. The teens blue eyes followed him as he walked into his kitchen, barely glancing at it's modern elegance. He opened one of the wooden cabinets, scanning the shelves. He reached in and retrieved a mug and a box of green tea, taking out one of the tea bags. He proceeded to heat a cup of water in the microwave.

Vlad wasn't sure if Daniel liked tea or not but was hoping it would have a calming effect on him. When the tea was ready he grabbed the mug, warm to the touch, and brought it back to the sitting room, placing it on the coffee table. The other halfa has quieted down just a little bit, his previously loud sobs now whimpers.

"Drink this," Vlad said, pointing to the mug.

Daniel looked at the drink suspiciously, his head tilted to the side. "Is it drugged?"

The older halfa shook his head, picking up the mug with one hand and grabbing Daniel's face with the other. "It will calm you down. Please just drink it, little badger."

The teen wrapped his hands around the cup, taking it from Vlad and taking a small sip. His eyes widened in surprise. "It's actually pretty good." He took another sip, his tears slowing in their journey down from his face. The mug was nice to hold too, the warmth traveling all over his hands.

"Good, little badger, good," The tension in the room had dropped considerably, Vlad noticed.

"How did she die?" Danny needed to know, or else he'd be wondering about it the rest of his life. Was it his fault for not being there for her when she needed him? It was a question he couldn't leave unanswered.

Vlad paused before responding, trying to decide whether or not to tell him. The manner in which Jasmine died had been... disturbing, at the very least. But he deserved to know. It would be cruel to not say anything, to leave him wondering.

"Jasmine was... killed by... a ghost." Vlad searched the child's face for a reaction, getting one of anger, but not at him, but himself. _He thinks it's his fault. _

"Care to elaborate?" Danny asked, angry, but also annoyed. He was tired of people being so mysterious with answering his questions. He wanted the truth, that was it.

Vlad intended to give it to him. He could only hope he was doing the right thing.

"The ghost Clockwork," he began. "It was at night, when she was walking home from somewhere. According to Skulker, who was apparently nearby, he came in a flash of light and took Jasmine's hand. She was enveloped in a glow of her own for a minute before collapsing in the middle of the street. That's how your parents found her, lying on the sidewalk. They have no idea what happened."

What Vlad didn't tell him was that Skulker had said that the girl hadn't resisted. She had looked into Clockworks glowing eyes calmly and had done nothing as he took her hand in his own. She didn't even seem to notice that was briefly glowing. Maybe she was too far gone. It was confusing, to say the least.

Daniel was completely silent, which worried the older man. He just stared straight ahead, with a confused expression. Trying to process what he just said possibly? Maybe he shouldn't have said anything at all.

"I trusted him," Danny said in disbelief. "And he just fucking killed her! What was even the point!? What did she ever do to deserve that?Jazz..." He was gripping the pillow on the couch tightly, like it was a lifeline. As soon as he could, he was going into the ghost zone too see Clockwork for some well deserved answers.

Vlad, not aware of Danny's plans, _was_ aware Jasmine's funeral was coming up very soon, in two days in fact, and once again, he was trying to figure out the right way to mention this information to Daniel. It would be taking place in Amity Park, and he would almost definitely want to attend. But he was likely listed as a missing child, and he couldn't risk him being seen, especially by his parents. And his frequent escape attempts meant he'd try to be noticed. All Vlad wanted to do was help, but Daniel didn't see it that way. He didn't exactly want to be charged with kidnapping the boy, so he needed to find a way around that. Heading to the funeral parlor at night would mean it was empty of people, and as long as he kept the boy by his side at all times things would go smoothly.

"Daniel, how would you like to go to Amity Park? Just for your sisters funeral, that is. It may give you some closure."

Danny's mind went blank as he looked at the older halfa, shocked that he would suggest something that was going directly against his intentions on keeping him here. His mind was filled with the bittersweet prospect of being able to return home.

He replied with a simple "Yes," thinking about how he was going to lose Vlad as soon as he set foot in the town. Keeping him from coming to retrieve him was another problem, one that he decided to tackle when he came to it.

"We leave tomorrow then at seven a.m. then," Vlad said, sitting down on the other side of the couch and turning on the TV with the remote, putting on some news channel with a blond woman speaking that Danny was paying no attention to.

Because he just had a horrible realization. Jazz hadn't been the only one he'd seen in a vision. He'd seen Sam too. And if Jazz was dead, what did that mean for Sam?

* * *

**This took me a while to write and edit. In the next chapter, Danny and Vlad will be heading to Amity Park. If you have any questions about the story (it is really confusing at times) just ask. :) I'm happy to answer them.**

** Well, the usual review *gives all of you cookies ***


	18. Chapter 18

**This is another long one. Enjoy :)**

* * *

**"There's nothing more intimate in life than simply being understood. And understanding someone else."  
―** Brad Meltzer,_ The inner Circle_

* * *

The next morning Vlad was sitting at his kitchen table, dressed in a blue button up collared shirt and black slacks, ready to go. He'd already had his breakfast of scrambled eggs and a bagel and was now waiting for Daniel, as he expected he would have to. The boy was a late sleeper. It was already ten o'clock, their flight scheduled to leave at eleven, and he was still in bed. He was sympathetic towards his pain of losing his sister, but they were running out of time.

Vlad could always delay the flight, seeing as they would be taking his private jet, but there was guarantee the ghostly pilot he hired would wait along with the plane.

He closed his paper, folding it up along the crease and placing it back on the table. He pushed his chair aside with a _scrape. _He would have to wake Daniel up himself then. He transformed into his ghost half, phasing through the ceiling to his bedroom. Hopefully the boy wouldn't be scared too badly by his sudden appearance.

Reaching the bedroom, Vlad took a look around at the near bareness of it, making a note to ask Daniel if he would like to add any personal touches to the room. He knew he liked astronomy, and video games. Perhaps he could buy him a new game system, or something space related, like a telescope. Money was not an object, and he'd never had a child he could spoil before. It would give him something to spend his time and money on.

He spotted Daniel laying in bed, the covers pulled up to his neck. He looked so small in such a large bed and was on his side, curled into a fetal position. He shifted to his other side, facing away from Vlad.

His new leather suitcase was on the other side of the room, packed with the clothes from the closet he had just discovered . He'd briefly complained about their style, but seeing as he only had one set of clothes that were unwearable, (the bloodstains hadn't come out, even after two washes.) he was forced to wear the clothes Vlad had bought him. Before he'd gone to bed last night Vlad had to show the closet in his room to him, after he shyly said he was out of things to wear. Vlad had laughed when he realized he didn't know where it was, even though it was in such an obvious location, the door right across the room. Daniel hadn't returned the laugh, not even with a sarcastic comment. He'd just stayed silent, thanking him for his help and going to bed.

This was worrying, and such a big change from the stubborn, sarcastic teenager he knew. The cause was obvious, but he what to do about it was another matter. He couldn't bring Jasmine back. Her life was done, and the ways of life and death were not something he could meddle with, even if he tried.

Not all ghosts stayed behind in the ghost zone, he knew. Most moved onto somewhere else after their live's were over, wherever that may be, he couldn't say. None of the ghosts that remained here knew, not even after years of looking for people they knew in life as well.

Vlad had searched for his mother many times after he'd first gotten his powers, not finding a trace of her in any part of the ghost zone. He knew it would be the same result if he searched for Jasmine, and possibly Daniel's goth friend, Samantha. She had been present in one of the visions as well.

Daniel had enough emotional blows. He didn't need another one. His parents were the same way, the last time he'd seen them.

When he'd gone over to Fenton Works invisibly the other day, he'd seen his dear Madeline, in her usual blue jumpsuit, sobbing in her husbands arms on the couch. Jack was rubbing her back comfortingly while she continuously repeated her children's names over and over again in distress. His own eyes we're clouded with tears, which he didn't bother wiping away with one of the tissues from the box on the coffee table.

It hurt so much to see Maddie like this, so hopeless. She had lost one child and the other was missing. True, he had the other, but now was not the time to reveal himself and say it.

He didn't feel like watching such a display anymore and phased through the wall, flying over to the clearing where he'd found Daniel. It looked about the same as before as he examined it, floating a few feet off the ground, his black cape blowing in the icy wind. White topped pine trees stood tall in the distance, the ground covered in a sheet of fresh white snow.

The bloodstained patch he'd seen before had been covered up, leaving no reason for any passerby to be suspicious of the place. There was no sign at all of what caused the boys injuries, not even a branch out of place. It was strange, it being so spotless and empty of any evidence.

He'd wandered around for about ten minutes, accomplishing nothing, but startling a deer that was hiding at the edge of the forest. The creature had seen him and looked up at him with frightened black eye's, dashing into the trees to safety.

Frustrated, he'd started heading home, literally running into Skulker halfway there, who started apologizing immediately for attacking Daniel and offered up information about Jasmine as a compromise. They both agreed in the end that Jasmine was a strange person for Clockwork to target.

Not much was known about the time keeper, other than his remarkable powers over time, and that he lived in a deep part of the ghost zone and was hard to find. But Daniel had said he'd trusted him, implying he'd met him before. Vlad couldn't think of a reason for Clockwork to know him.

He checked his watch again, confirming that he'd been in the room for about ten minutes. It was time to get moving. He pulled the comforter off Daniel, noting how peaceful he looked sleeping. When he awoke, the pain would hit his heart all over again. Getting ready would be so stressful for him, knowing where he'd be in just a few hours. The least he could do was prolong that burden.

He retrieved the suitcase from the side of the room, holding it with one hand and lifting Daniel and holding him with the other. He was smiling as he saw he was wearing one of the pairs of pajamas that had been hanging in his closet. They were made of a costly green silk, the top long sleeved with small buttons that were only halfway done up. He'd been shopping a few weeks ago in Paris and bought them on a whim. They came in handy after all.

Vlad shifted Daniel until he was holding him comfortably against his chest and phased back through the floor, watching as the bedroom disappeared from his view. The teen didn't stir once, just rested his head against the older halfas chest.

He arrived at his front door, making a stop at the closet to grab the blanket he kept there. He put the suitcase down on the floor and wrapped it around Daniel until he was nearly completely covered with the red cloth. It was cold out, and snowing again, so now the younger hybrid could simply sleep through the plane ride.

Vlad thought he remembered the blanket being a shorter length than it was, but maybe that was because the the person that it was covering was smaller than he was. **  
**

He snatched up Daniel and the suitcase with his arms again, wondering why he hadn't just sent two duplicates to do all of this work. He could manage it just fine, but it was awkward trying to carrying a teenager and a suitcase at the same time. The thought hadn't occurred to him before, but better late than never. He duplicated himself twice, watching as two look alike versions of himself in ghost form appeared in front of him.

One came up to him and took the leather suitcase from him, the other standing in front of him with his arms outstretched to receive Daniel. But Vlad didn't really want to hand him over, even if it was to himself. He liked holding the sleeping teen, watching as he used his chest as a pillow. He was fine keeping him in his arms, and mentally converted that message to the duplicate, who flashed out of existence, no longer needed.

The duplicate that he kept carried the suitcase out the door, taking off into the gray clouded sky toward the landing pad across the property. Vlad followed, keeping a tight grip on Danny as he took off, as to not accidentally drop him.

It was cold up in the air, snow flakes landing on his black cape as he flew, and he was relieved that the flight was only two minutes, taking his time as he was. Flying at high speeds risked waking the child in his arms.

Vlad was usually warmer in cold temperatures, seeing as he had a fire core, but it felt like the temperature was in the negatives today, and he was aware that Daniel had an ice core, making him more susceptible to it. He hoped he wouldn't get sick. _Maybe I should have bundled him up more, _he thought, watching as a snowflake landed on the younger halfas nose, making it twitch with the cold sensation. He didn't open his eyes though, just turned his head away from the sky.

The long black plane was visible on a stretch of black pavement now, a large glowing figure leaning causally against the door. Vlad landed right in front of it, the pilots eyes widening as he left he his place against the door for a closer look at what the halfa was carrying.

"Adrian," Vlad greeted, changing back to his human form and nodding his head.

Adrian was a tall, muscular man, with shaggy brown hair that tended to fall into his bright orange eyes, an unusual color for a ghost. He'd hired the pilot a while back, after he'd found him wandering around aimlessly in the ghost zone and offered him a job. He had told him he'd fly a plane with wherever with no questions asked, and that was it. He already knew of Vlad's unique half ghost status. In turn, Vlad knew that he'd died sometime back in nineteen seventy two, in a hit and run, but that was about it. Vlad wasn't very open with his life story and neither was Adrian.

"Plasmius, I didn't know you had a kid," he said, curiously looking from him to Danny. "Is he sick?" He pointed to the blanket wrapped around the teen.

"No," Vlad said, choosing to ignore his first sentence. "At least I hope he won't be, after being in weather like this. He's just been through a lot and I didn't want to wake him up, so I just used this to keep him warm. He can use it to sleep on during the ride too."

Adrian nodded, giving him a small smile. "No problem. You want me to strap him in?"

"No, no, I'll do it. I don't want him to be frightened if he wakes up and I'm not there." Vlad carried Danny inside to the elegant interior of the plane and placed him on one of the seats, taking the blanket off him and seat belting him in. One he was sure he was secure, he placed it over him once again.

He was quite amazed that Daniel hadn't woken up with all that was going on._ He must have been really tired from last night, _he thought.

Adrian had come to the back of the plane and walked down to their seats, carrying a tray with two sandwiches on it. "I wasn't sure if you were hungry, but I already had these in the fridge. I just made em a couple hours ago actually. Still fresh."

Vlad smiled. "Thank you," he said, reaching out for the tray. Adrian was a good man, always eager to please. That was why he kept him around.

"You might wanna feed the kid too," he added. "He's not lookin too good."

The pilot almost always said what was on his mind, whether it was insulting or not. But he did mean well. Vlad sighed, taking a bite out of his sandwich. It tasted like a BLT, and a good one at that. "Oh don't worry about that. I can assure you, the child will be fed and taken care of. He's just... stubborn."

Adrian laughed. "Ah. Sorry bout that. I'm sure he'll come around. If you ever need any help with getting him to eat, just call me. My cooking is too good to resist." He smirked, heading back to the front of the plane.

"Was that the pilot?" A voice said suddenly.

Vlad quickly looked over at Daniel with surprise, seeing his tired blue eyes open and examining the length of the plane curiously. "Dear boy, I didn't even know you were up. And yes, that was the pilot."

"Oh," he said blankly, laying his head back against the seat. "How long have we been here?"

" Not long. You wouldn't wake up this morning so I carried you here." Vlad took another bite of his sandwich.

"You could've just woken me up," he replied quietly. "I wouldn't have cared."

"Ah, but you looked so comfortable, little badger." Vlad handed him the other sandwich. "Here. You need to eat. Even Adrian has commented on your health."

"I'm not hungry," Danny said, pushing his hand away.

This irritated Vlad, to say the least. If he didn't start eating more soon, he was going to get sicker than he already was. "Daniel," he said sternly. "You have to eat something. Your practically wasting away."

Danny closed his eyes again, going back to sleep. "Maybe later," he muttered.

A voice came over the loud speaker then, cheerily stating, "We're taking off now, so please keep your seat belts on until we are in the air. After that, well do whatever you want."

Danny and Vlad both felt a sudden shift in the planes position, pressing then flat against their seats. Outside the window, the scenery was passing by in a blur, like a painting with it's colors distorted.

Danny stared at the black suede of his seat, trying to calm his nerves of the plane taking off. He'd been on a plane once before, when Vlad had tricked them into crash landing in his cabin in the Rockies, but the fact that in a couple of seconds he would be rising over a thousand feet in the air still scared him, even though he flew all the time. Plus, this was a lot higher than he was used to.

Vlad, on the other hand, seemed perfectly calm as the plane lifted into the sky, finishing up the last bit of his sandwich. Seeing Danny's nervous expression, he smiled and said, "Scared, little badger?"

"No." His ears were starting to pop from the high altitude. It wasn't a pleasant sensation.

The other halfa undid his seat belt for him and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him closer.

Danny was too shocked to do anything as he was embraced, Vlad's arms wrapping securely around him.

"Don't worry, Adrian is a reliable pilot, I can assure you." Vlad's eyes wandered to the front of the plane. "Speaking of the man, here he comes now."

Adrian sat himself down in the seat across of them, he smile warm and welcoming. Danny figured the plane must have been on autopilot. He also noticed that Adrian didn't look much like a pilot at all. He wore a plain long sleeved white collared shirt and long black slacks that with black boots. His legs were crossed and his strange, orange eyes seemed out of place, yet perfect on his angular face.

"Just wanted to meet the kid," he said, nodding in Vlad's direction.

"Be my guest," he replied moving Danny back onto his seat, the red blanket falling to the floor, revealing he was still in his pajamas. He was glad Vlad hadn't decided to do anything about that but he blushed all the same.

"Let me see him," the pilot said getting up from his seat and lifting Danny up. He held the teen out in front of him. "He doesn't look much like ya, Plasmius. Well, the eyes maybe. Similar shade of blue."

Surprisingly, Danny wasn't as uncomfortable as he usually would have been if a guy he barely knew randomly picked him up. Vlad seemed to trust him though, as he made no move to stop and he didn't seem very threatening.

The other halfa got up from his seat then, standing in front of them. "He's not actually mine. I'm just taking care of him for a while."

"Ah," Adrian said, ruffling Danny's hair and setting him back on his feet. "You've got a good man with you kid, a good man."

_He obviously doesn't know what Vlad's done in the past, _he thought. _Poor oblivious guy_.

"We'll be landing in Amity Park In about two hours, yes?" Vlad inquired.

"Yep. If you don't mind my asking, what's in Amity Park for you?" The pilot had settled back down in his seat, stretching his arms over his head.

Danny was silent, seeing out the window the dark looking sky with it's gray puffs of clouds. Just the mere mention of his hometown gave him a sharp pain in his heart.

"Personal matters."

Adrian nodded respectfully. "Well, call me if you need anything." He left down the aisle, his black boots making no sound on the plush carpet.

Danny and Vlad sat in silence, not sure what to say to one another. Danny had picked up the other sandwich on the tray and started eating it, pleased at the taste. He loved BLT's.

"Daniel, we need to go over some rules before we land," Vlad said suddenly, with an all-business tone.

" What kind of rules?" He raised his eyebrow. Rules meant it would be harder to get away when the time came. But he expected this, and wasn't going to let it hold him back. He'd find a way.

"For one, you are to stay by my side at all times. Two, we will be not be visiting your parents. Three, we will be visiting the funeral parlor at night so we will not be seen."

_"_We're _breaking into a funeral parlor?" _That was wrong on so many levels._  
_

"Do you want to see your sister or not?" Vlad asked,irritated. Why did the boy have to fight him on almost everything he did?

"Well, yeah..."

"Then you will do it. You are simply paying your respects like everyone else."

Danny was hoping he wouldn't have to do such a thing, that he'd be gone before the time came. He wanted to see Jazz desperately, yes, but he needed to see Clockwork more. He needed to know why things were like this, why Jazz had to die. Why he had to live.

* * *

**Notes:**

**I've never been on a plane before, but I did some research and I hope I described taking off the right way.**

***cough, cough * Review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**This is almost six thousand words. O_O I never thought it would be that long.**

** Sorry about the late update. I just started high school, so things have been stressful. But I give you this chapter as an apology gift.**

**Also, I realize that I've kind of been neglecting my other stories lately, and intend to fix that as soon as possible.**

* * *

Three hours later, Danny was laying on a fluffy king sized bed in the bedroom of a ritzy hotel that probably cost a fortune to stay for just one night. Vlad had gone downstairs a while ago to complain about something to the front desk. He wasn't really paying attention when he told him what about.

The older halfa had insisted they stay at the Red Garden, a four star hotel just outside of Amity Park, for the next two days as soon as they'd exited the airport. Vlad had turned Danny intangible while checking in, in case he was listed as missing. Danny would have preferred to stay somewhere less flashy, but Vlad made it clear that he was choosing the hotel.

"It's not that bad," he'd said, climbing into the limo he'd rented as the driver held the door. "In fact, you might come to like it."

"I doubt it," Danny had said with a roll of his eyes, getting in after him.

It _did _turn out to be a nice place to stay though, despite the unfamiliar over the top elegance, not that he'd admit it to Vlad. There was a pool right down the hall that was open twenty four seven that he could use anytime. Well, if Vlad permitted it, which he probably wouldn't. The hotel didn't even know he had checked in with someone else, due to other halfa turning Danny intangible through the whole process. He wasn't supposed to be seen by anyone, not even room service.

Besides that, room service seemed like it would be kind of awkward anyway, a complete stranger knocking on your door to give you food, so Danny just looked at what was already stocked in the mini fridge of the kitchen. Mostly caviar, sushi, and other stuff that he'd never really tried, or had the intention of trying. But there was also the odd slice of cheese pizza in there, which he took eagerly to heat up in the microwave. Vlad must have asked for it to be left there for him, he figured.

Why the guy was so adamant on keeping him at least semi content was beyond him. He couldn't really care... could he? It would have just been easier to leave him at home while he attended his mothers funeral. Maybe he wanted to keep an eye on him? But he actually seemed almost nice lately. Besides that one slap, that is. That proved that Vlad still had a temper, and he had to be careful how far he pushed him. You play with fire, you get burned.

A beep from the microwave told him his pizza was ready. He grabbed it by the crust, smiling at the site of the thick gooey cheese, and took a bite out of it, almost dropping it when he realized how hot it was. It burned his tongue! Biting his lip, he put the pizza down on the granite counter top, opening the fridge to get some some water to cool the burning sensation.

There was none, just two large glass bottles with a light yellow tinted liquid filling the insides. He regarded them with raised eyebrows. How pissed would Vlad be if he had some, just a little? If he even noticed, that is. He weighed his options carefully and made a decision. He was going to take the risk.

He grabbed the bottle from the shelf, wrapping his fingers around the cool glass of the neck. The label said it was some kind of wine, not that he really took a good look at it. He was more curious about the taste. He tried yanking the cork out with his fingers with no results. Rummaging through the drawers of the cabinets for a bottle opener (not that he knew how to use one) proved no better. To think it would one of first things he saw was a mistake on his part. If he had his ghost powers, he could have just phased the stupid cork out, but the green bracelet was still present on his wrist, a cruel reminder of his situation.

Of course, that was the moment Danny heard the foreboding sound of footfalls on the hardwood floors in the hallway. He froze, the bottle clenched in his hand. The kitchen was in full view of the door.

_No, not now...!_

The door to the suite opened, revealing Vlad, dressed in a gray suit without a jacket. He looked tired and his hair was out of it's pony tail, hanging loose around his shoulders. His gray eyes locked onto Danny and surprisingly, he smiled, looking amused.

"You have the worst timing, don't you my boy?" He said, crossing his arms. "Now give me the bottle." He stood in the kitchens entryway and stretched his arm out, his hand open.

Danny reluctantly handed the bottle over, angry at Vlad for ruining his plans.

"How much trouble am I in?" He asked, sighing. Vlad wasn't the merciful type.

But the older man only looked at him with pity, understanding why he wished to numb his sorrows this way. He'd done it himself the first few years after he'd gotten his powers, drinking whatever he could get his hands on, the only purpose to clear his mind of the ever present questions, and the resentment he had for the world for giving him such a burden to carry on his shoulders. He'd been twenty two at the time, young, but not as young as the teenager standing before him.

The boy was still a child, but he didn't have a hadn't gotten a chance to really be one. Even before the portal accident that made him into who he is now, Vlad knew his life was not a happy one. And that was simply what he knew from his audio visual cameras. Jack and - as much as he hated to admit- Maddie, were certainly not the worlds best parents. They rarely gave Daniel the attention that he deserved, instead devoting their time to their work, and their daughter.

Jasmine was an over achiever from birth, not that that was a bad thing. In fact, it was a great thing. She would likely have a very successful life because of it. It wasn't her fault that her parents were this way.

School wasn't much better. Vlad knew that Danny was bullied, and badly. His friends and him talked about it sometimes up in his bedroom, frowning at the bruises that normally decorated his arms and chest.

After Daniel's accident, things were even worse, Vlad knew. His grades began to slip, he lost sleep, became depressed. His parents began to notice eventually, but only to yell at him about something such as his grades, or him forgetting to do his chores.

_They never thought to ask him why he suddenly began doing these things, _Vlad thought bitterly. Those people were ignorant when it came to parenting. Maybe he could do a better job. The thought was fleeting, but there. He would make an effort, for sure. Right now, Daniel was not very trusting, and obviously not in the best health. He could heal the boy's body, in time, but his mind was another matter. Mental scars are far deeper than physical ones, and can be almost impossible to heal. Vlad himself had never gotten over the death of his mother, and he had years to heal. Just the memory of her, of her loving smile, the last one she ever gave, was like reopening an old wound, one that never really closed.

"Vlad?" Danny asked cautiously, taking a step back. Vlad had been standing there for a couple minutes now, not saying anything. "You OK?"

He blinked, realizing what he'd been doing. "Yes, I'm fine. But you're not."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You're hurt, I realize that. But you can't drown your sorrows with alcohol. It's not healthy."

He stayed silent, looking down at the carpet. What was he supposed to say?

"Have you ever had wine, Daniel?" Vlad asked curiously. His father had let him have a glass at dinner ever since he was seventeen, though he'd first tasted it much earlier.

"Um, no. Mom and Dad had some, but they never let me or- or- Jazz have any." He had a hard time bringing up his sisters name, a lump forming in his throat as he did.

"Well perhaps I could let you have a shot or two," Vlad said. "This particular wine-" he tapped the front of the bottle. "- is not very high in alcohol. It won't have too much of an effect on you."

Danny was shocked, to say the least. He thought Vlad would be furious with him for trying to take his stuff, but he was actually _sharing _the drink with him instead. The thought of the other halfa being overshadowed crossed his mind. But he seemed fine, a little worn out, but normal. Of course he woulfn't care that he'd be giving alcohol to a minor.

Poison didn't appear likely either. How would Vlad have known he'd try to get the bottle? Unless he was planning on giving it to him later...

_Forget it. _He wanted the wine, and now he was being offered it with no consequences. Poison was the only risk, and right now it didn't seem like a very big one. He knew it should have, but he just couldn't bring himself to feel concerned about it.

"Sure." He sat down on at the round wooden table, mindlessly playing with the bracelet on his wrist. The thing was causing him so many problems lately.

Vlad was searching through the shelves of the cabinets, looking for the shot glasses. He wasn't originally planning on giving Daniel anything to drink, but something had given inside of him. Maybe it was the pained look in the child's eyes, the desperation for a moment of release from his dreadful emotions, but he would let the child have a small taste, nothing more. It would not get him drunk out of his mind, and would stand to satisfy his curiosity, and hopefully keep him from using other methods to do so.

He found the glasses in the last cabinet on the right, choosing two blue ones and putting them on the counter. He found the bottle opener in a drawer and removed the cork. He poured himself a full shot of the wine, giving Danny only half as much.

Danny's eyes followed his movements the whole time until his glass was placed in front of him. He stared at the light liquid sloshing around inside and looked up at Vlad, having second thoughts.

"Go on," Vlad said encouragingly. "I promise it won't kill you."

_I promise. _Danny had said that once before, when he'd faced his future self. He'd promised that he would save his friends and family, that he'd never become Dan. But he'd let Jazz die, so what good was that promise? His family would never be whole again, and who said that he wasn't going to become his future self just because he wasn't an orphan? He was already with Vlad and hated the way he felt now, but he didn't want his humanity ripped away, not if it meant the end for so many other people. They didn't deserve that kind of fate. He didn't even think it was possible to rip out his own humanity, like he had wanted to do in the alternate timeline. His ghost half had been separated from him before, and he could still feel. Ripping it out wouldn't relieve the pain, just make two different people. He made a mistake in that the world, one that cost him everything. He wasn't going to make it here. He wouldn't let his ghost half be ripped out, wouldn't let that monster exist.

No matter what timeline he was in though, his life seemed to fall apart at one point or another. Clockwork said everything was as it should be after he'd fixed the future. But was this really how his life was supposed to go?

He picked up the shot glass and took a cautious sip of it's contents. It wasn't like anything he'd ever tasted before. It was very sweet, a little like fruit juice, yet strong enough to leave a faint aftertaste in his mouth after he'd swallowed. He liked it, and managed to down his half filled glass in another minute or two.

Vlad's eye's widened. He never heard expected Daniel to like the taste right away, or drink it so fast. It was a good thing he didn't give him a lot, or he would've been sick.

"It's good," Danny said plainly, pushing the glass away.

Vlad nodded. "The funeral is tomorrow," he said, hoping bringing up the fact wouldn't set the teen off. "We'll be leaving tomorrow night by nine o'clock."

"OK." Danny wished he could attend, but seeing Clockwork might mean that no funeral would ever happen. Whatever his reason was for killing his sister -and he was determined to get it- he was the only person who could bring her back. He knew the chances of that were almost nothing, seeing as Clockwork had already meddled with the timeline before, but was going to try anyway. If there was even a chance of making things right again, he had to.

* * *

The rest of the day passed quickly without incident. Danny watched TV until the sun went down, turning his head to watch the glowing ball of light sink beneath the horizon.

It was time to put his plan into action. Luckily, Vlad had gone to bed early, which definitely made things easier. Hopefully he was a deep sleeper.

Danny was fortunate enough that their suite was only on the second story, and had a fire escape leading down from the balcony. He made the excuse earlier that he needed some air and found that the doors to the balcony could be unlocked from the inside without a key. He wasn't sure if all doors like that were the same, but he wasn't going to question it.

He quietly padded over to said doors and opened them slowly, taking care that they didn't slam behind him.

In front of him was a block of city buildings, all brick and stone and illuminated in the dark night by street lights and passing cars high beams. A few people walked along the sidewalks, coming home from bars and late jobs, not bothering to glance up at the teenager standing on the balcony of a hotel. Why would they? They had their own lives to deal with.

He sat down on the cool metal floor of the balcony and swung his legs over the side, trying to find the ladder rungs with his feet. He managed and started to climb down, the metal new enough not to creak too much under his weight.

When there were no more rungs left he let himself drop, landing in a crouch on the sidewalk. It wasn't easy like in the movies though. His knees almost buckled from the impact.

There were no people in sight on the street so he got up in a hurry and tried to look natural, just an average kid walking down the street. The doors to the balcony stayed closed, the lights in the suite off.

Danny didn't look back. He just kept walking towards Amity Park. The hotel was not that far away from it, probably about fifteen minutes walking. He wasn't really sure where he was, but he'd figure it out.

As he turned onto a street, unable to read the name in the dark, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He gasped and spun around, expecting to find a robber in a ski mask, or something of that sort.

But there was nothing there, just the wall of an apartment building with unreadable graffiti spray painted on it. He sighed with relief and turned back towards the road. He was way too paranoid tonight.

"_Remember," _a voice whispered, close to his ear.

Danny struggled to keep from screaming and moved away, his hands up in self defense. But there was nothing to defend against. The voice had no visible source. He made a break for it and started sprinting down the street, human traffic forgotten. He ended up pushing aside a group of girls in short skirts and high heels coming out of a bar, giggling to themselves. They barely seemed to notice, just stumbled and kept talking to each other.

Danny was forced to a stop his escape when he crashed into something hard and fell to the ground, his hands and arms skidding on concrete painfully. "Damn it!" He hissed, looking the blood now leaking from his palms and the lower part of his arms. He really had a knack for getting into trouble lately, didn't he?

"Jeez kid," a deep voice announced. "You OK?"

Danny looked up to see the thing he'd bumped into was a man with a brown leather jacket with a large rip in the right sleeve. He had messy curly brown hair that went down to his neck and hazel eye's, which were staring down at him with slight curiosity. Well, he supposed, it wasn't everyday a teenager ran into you and pretty much face planted on the sidewalk.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Danny stated, trying to hide his arms behind his back. He looked back down the street were he'd come from, but saw nothing out of the ordinary, just a man in a business suit unlocking the door to his apartment. No one was following him, but he still had the eerie feeling he was being watched, his privacy invaded.

"You look like you just got into a fight with a butcher knife," the brown haired man said, playing with the zipper of his jacket. "Where you headed?"

"My cousins house," Danny lied, hoping it sounded convincing. If he said his parents house, he would pretty much be admitting to being the Fenton's missing son. He was lucky enough the man hadn't recalled his face from a poster somewhere.

As much as he wanted to be home with his parents again, he knew that when he got there, and not just to use the ghost portal, the house would be one filled to the brim with sorrow and melancholy. He was going to fix that, but a sudden appearance to his grief stricken parents would ruin everything. They would never let him out of their sight long enough for him to turn on the Spector Speeder and leave. Better to sneak in and stay hidden.

"Need a ride? I don't have any plans for the rest of the night, or have a car, but I do have a Harley back at my place. It's nearby."

A little voice in his head was screaming danger, so he opted for just asking for directions.

"That's nice, but I'm fine with walking. Do you know how to get to Amity Park from here though?"

"Amity Park?" The man said, his eyebrows raised. "Kid, that's at least a forty minute walk from here. Your parents know you're going there?"

"Yes." This whole conversation was turning into a whole lot of lies. "I just need directions though."

"I can't let you walk all the way there. You have to pass through some pretty bad neighborhoods on the way, and no offence, but you're not the most intimidating person."

That was a blow to his pride, but Danny knew it was true. This guy could potentially kill him... or worse, but he needed to get home as soon as possible, if he could.

He nodded. "OK."

"My place is just down the road," the man said, pointing a finger in that direction. There were more apartment buildings down there, not brand new, but not falling apart either. Little shops rested in between some of them, mostly boutiques and restaurants. This was probably a busy part of town in the daytime.

Danny followed the man down the street, keeping a safe distance behind him in case he had to make a run for it. He was nervous, oh yeah. He had no idea if this guy was really going to give him a ride or not. He'd seen the movies. Someone goes out for a late night stroll and is murdered by a seemingly nice and helpful person.

_Please don't let this be like the movies._

They were walking for only about a minute when the man stopped at the door to a three story brick building that was pretty average. The man climbed the three step staircase and muttered something to himself, digging into his jacket pocket and pulling out a set of keys.

"I can't ride around with you bleeding everywhere," he said, taking one of the keys and sliding it into the lock. "People are gonna get freaked out. I have some bandages inside."

When he turned and saw Danny's look of fear, he quickly added, "You can wait out here if you want," opening the door and stepping inside.

Danny sat on the bottom step, his head in his hands. How long had it been since he left the hotel? It seemed like a while, and Vlad was an early riser. He had to at least get into the ghost zone before he noticed he was gone.

He shivered as a breeze blew through the city street. It was freezing. He hadn't really payed much attention to that fact until now. He was too busy getting far away from the hotel and running from the mysterious voice. Which, now that he thought about it, sounded familiar somehow. He couldn't place where he'd heard it before though.

_Remember. _

He wanted to remember, so much. It wasn't just about finding out what almost killed him anymore. His sister had asked him to, and he just knew that whatever happened was connected to her, somehow. Clockwork was the master of time, and knew what had happened to his sister and him, and why. The idea of associating with Jazz's killer wasn't a pleasant option, but it was the only one.

The door opened behind him suddenly, and the man with the leather jacket appeared, holding a roll of bandages and paper towels in his hands. He sat down next to Danny on the steps, his brown hair falling into his eyes. "I've got the stuff," he said, tearing off a paper towel and wadding it up in his hand.

Danny nodded and offered his arm. The man dabbed at his skin with the paper towel, the cloth coming away a sickening red color.

"I'm Samuel, by the way," he said, tossing it behind him and tearing off another piece. "I work at the deli a block over."

"I'm James," Danny said, remembering to lie at the last second.

Samuel smiled and kept cleaning his arm. The wounds continued to bleed after he wiped the blood away, albeit more slowly. Danny swore he saw some dead skin come away at one point and shuddered.

It took about five minutes and lots of paper towels before his arms and hands were reasonably clean. Samuel began wrapping both of his lower arms and hands with bandages, stopping when he noticed Vlad's bracelet on his wrist. It's usual vibrant green color was now smeared with red.

"You might wanna take that off," he said, pointing to it. "It'll be easier to wrap you up that way."

Danny swallowed, looking for an excuse. "Um, it's a gift from my dad. I'd rather leave it on."

Samuel raised his eyebrows. "Whatever you say." He stopped wrapping that arm right below his wrist. "Good job kid," he said as he secured the bandages with medical tape and patted him on back.

Danny experimentally moved his left arm, testing its mobility and finding it easy enough. He barely felt the bandages. "Thank you," he said to Samuel.

"No problem."

The man made another quick trip inside to put away the things he'd brought out and came back out with his keys jingling in his hand. "Ready?"

Danny nodded and got to his feet, running a hand through his hair. He'd never ridden a motorcycle before **(*) **and wasn't sure what to expect from it. He'd seen Johnny Thirteen ride his a few times, which made it look easy. But he had probably been riding that thing for years. Were there seat belts?

Samuel led him around back to an empty lot, which almost made him stop dead until he saw that there was also a garage. Samuel lifted the garage door open, making a shiny new motorcycle visible on the inside. It was black and orange with wide silver handle bars, a long metal tube running along the side. For the gas, Danny guessed. He didn't know much about motorcycles.

Samuel tapped the long black seat of the bike. "Hop on. You ever ridden before?"

"No," he replied nervously, trying to get comfortable on back part of the seat of the potential death trap. Now was not the best time for him to be remembering that Johnny Thirteen had more likely than not died in a motorcycle accident.

"Well it's easy! Just hold onto me." Samuel got into position on the front of the motorcycle, placing his hands far apart on the the handlebars.

The engine suddenly sputtered to life with a noise that nearly gave Danny a heart attack. He knew that motorcycles were loud, but actually being on one one amplified the noise by a lot.

Samuel was trying to say something to him, but his voice was drowned out by the engine. It must have been a warning, because the bike came alive with movement right then, backing out of the garage and turning towards the street. Danny was thankful he'd already wrapped his arms tightly around the man's waist.

They pulled out of the lot, joining the traffic flow of the now early morning. The darkness wasn't as heavy anymore. He'd been out longer than he'd thought. Vlad would be waking up soon, coming out of the bedroom to find that he'd gone missing.

"What time is it?" Danny asked, struggling to be heard over the noise. They had stopped at a red light behind a yellow Toyota only a few yards away from the apartment.

Samuel glanced at his watch. "Five!" He yelled back. "Don't you worry, we'll get there! Amity Park right? Where do you want me to drop you off?"

"The high school's fine!" He would've said thank you, but yelling their whole conversation wasn't very ideal.

The light changed to green and the Toyota sped ahead, the motorcycle following suit. The whole experience was pretty amazing, once they really got going. The cold wind blew through Danny's hair, pushing raven locks against his forehead and whipping against his skin. The sensation was different than flying. Nothing could ever compare to that. He was on the ground, but still felt the push and pull of the air.

They went about five blocks before the appearance of the city started to change and the traffic became almost nonexistent. The apartments were more run down here, windows smashed in some of them, fixed with long strips of duck tape where the glass was missing. There was definitely more graffiti here, most readable and normally a bit scary, some not even legible. There were very few people walking about, those who were looking like they were in a hurry to get whenever they were going.

Danny figured this must have been the neighborhood Samuel had told him about, and was glad he wasn't walking through it alone. It went on for a couple more blocks then ended at the highway, the only busy street at five in the morning Danny had seen so far. Samuel turned the bike onto it and slowed down to avoid hitting the cars.

People stared out their windows at them, probably wondering why they weren't wearing any helmets and their purpose for being on the highway so early in the morning.

The trip to the high school was a quick one, occupied by the familiar scenery (at least to Danny) of Amity Park. The motorcycle slowed to stop in front of the large building.

"Here's your stop," said Samuel, running a hand through his wind blown hair. "You sure you don't want a ride to your cousin's place?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Danny said, dismounting from the bike. "Thanks for doing this."

"Any time." He gave a wave and sped back down the road they'd come from. The sound of the motorcycle faded into the distance.

Danny looked up at the school, memories flashing through his mind, both good and bad. He was bullied constantly here, getting shoved into lockers and beat up. He'd even been thrown in the dumpster a few times. But he'd also had some great times with his best friends.

He remembered one time that Sam, Tucker, and him had locked Dash in the janitor's closet. The jock had been chasing him through the halls after he had 'accidentally' knocked over one of his test tubes during Science.

Danny had ducked into the closet and phased back out into the hall discreetly as he was coming in after him. Sam and Tucker had been leaning against the lockers the whole time, having a conversation about how great the weather was that day when Dash ran past them. They had stealthily slammed the door behind him and turned the lock, ignoring the shocked "Hey!" coming from inside and the oncoming pounding on the door.

The Janitor had found Dash four hours later when he needed to get a mop out of the closet. All three of them had laughed for an hour about that one.

Danny had actually met Sam in third grade in Casper Elementary after she moved to Amity Park from somewhere in Oregon. She was the girl that was easily forgotten in class, despite her unique style and personality. She was quiet, but stood up for what she believed in when she needed to. Even though it was a long time ago, that day was one he liked to remember.

* * *

_Danny had been coloring a drawing he'd made with crayons, trying to make the rocket ship look like one he'd seen on TV. It was going good, and was already half colored in. _

_A hand came down on his desk, covering part of the paper._

_"What're you doing?" Dash had said, his blond hair spiky and neat from his new haircut._

_"Drawing," Danny replied, trying to slide the paper out from under his hand. It didn't budge._

_"Drawing what?" He lifted the paper in front of his face and stared at it, his eyes traveling over the surface of it. "This stinks," he declared, letting it flutter to the floor._

_ Danny felt like crying when he said that. He knew his opinion shouldn't matter, but he'd worked hard on that drawing. He felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes and tried to hold them back._

_"Now you're crying?" Dash, said, annoyance filling his voice. "What a baby."_

_"I don't think you're a baby," a voice said, coming from right behind Danny._

_ He turned and found himself face to face with a girl with long black hair and deep purple eye's. She wasn't smiling, but had a curious look on her face, like she wasn't sure what his reaction would be. Danny had never seen here before, and assumed she must have been new._

_"T-Thank you," he said, surprised this girl was standing up for him, in a way. No one had ever done that before._

_"You mind if I sit next to you?" She asked, glancing at the empty desk. She grabbed at her purple T-shirt nervously._

_"Sure." Danny gave her a small smile as she sat, noticing her gray sweat pants and and blue sneakers. __She didn't dress like the most of the other girls, with their shades of pastel colors. _

_She was different._

_ Dash, who had been silent during their little exchange, stomped back to his desk in irritation at the interruption. He turned back to look at the pair once more and then started doodling in his notebook._

_"I'm Sam," the girl said, crossing her ankles._

_"I'm Danny."_

* * *

They'd been best friends ever since. Tucker had been around since kindergarten, and had taken to Sam immediately when he'd met her. When they were younger, Danny's parents had even referred to them as the Three Musketeers.

He hoped Sam was OK.

He looked away from the school and started walking home, sticking to the less crowed streets to avoid being seen.

The sun was starting to come up, the bright light staining the sky a faint pink. His parents would be waking up soon, making breakfast, getting ready to start their day. Or maybe they wouldn't bet. Maybe they'd be in bed for a few more hours, still overcome with grief over their two dead and missing children, dreading the day to come.

Danny walked with his eyes downcast, deciding that was a more likely case. There was no way things would get back to normal after all this.

He passed the sign of the street a few blocks down from his and took a breath. He had to do this.

* * *

Vlad Masters was not a man many people trifled with. He had money and power: in general, he could make their lives miserable.

But Daniel didn't seem to care about any of that. When Vlad had awoken to find the boy gone, he was furious. How dare the little brat disobey him! That anger was soon joined by concern. Was he alright? What exactly had he gone to do?

He asked himself these questions as he sent invisible duplicates out to search the city, and neighboring ones, for the child. He couldn't hide forever.

* * *

**(*): I know Danny's ridden Johnny's motorcycle before, but in this fic, pretend he hasn't. I just really wanted to right it as a new experience for him, so I did.**

**The usual, Review if you can!**

** And a revived asked if I'd be putting authors into my AU's Rp style again. The answer is, yes, but only three people a chapter. If you want to be in it, just review or Pm me and I'll put you in the order the requests come. Thanks for reading you guys. :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Thank you guys for all of the reviews! ^_^ I went over this chapter a couple of times and changed some things, so I hope it's a lot better than the first draft was.**

**Sorenalice: Thanks! It's cool so far, more work though.**

** Sparky: Really glad you like it ^^**

* * *

Danny stood in front of his house, the windows dark and the curtains pulled shut. Silence covered the street like a heavy blanket. It was too early for a lot of people to be up. The sun was only just beginning to cast shadows on the sidewalk.

Fenton Works had changed more than seemed possible in the course of a few days. Sure, the house was still standing and nothing was visibly out of place, but there was an air of foreboding surrounding Danny's childhood home. Nothing that happened in there would ever be the same again.

_Please let me be able to fix this, _he thought, ducking into a nearby alley and fishing around in his pockets. _I need one more chance._

He pulled out a shiny black touchscreen cell phone and dialed his home number with shaking hands. His own cell phone had not been with him when Vlad had taken him. It was probably lying on his desk in his bedroom, if the police hadn't taken it as evidence.

He'd found this one on the coffee table in the hotel suite last night. It was probably Vlad's: he hadn't bothered to search around it to confirm that. He would eventually be tracked and captured as long as he had the device. Vlad would put two and two together immediately once he found it missing, but if he destroyed it before he had the chance he would take longer to find.

The rings on the other end of the phone sounded, Danny's stress increasing with each one. What if no one answered? He'd be a sitting duck if he had to wait until later! Vlad was probably already on his way here.

The ringing stopped as someone picked up the phone and a tired female voice said, "Hello?"

It felt bittersweet to hear his mother's voice. It was familiar and comforting, but she also sounded mentally wounded and full of grief. Danny doubted she would have gotten up if the phone hadn't rang.

"Hello?" She said again.

Danny tried to deepen his voice as much as possible and replied. "There's a ghost attack at Casper high school. They need help and you and your husband are the only one's who can give it."

She gasped. "Are you sure there's no one else? We're... going through a tough time, if you didn't already know."

"No, there's no one else. Please Mo- Mrs. Fenton. I'm sorry to bother you like this but I don't have any other choice ."

It was hard lying to his mom, considering all she was going through, but it was only way to get her out of the house. She was in mourning now, and wasn't guaranteed to accept something like a a free spa day pass. That is, if he even had the money to get one in the first place. He was broke.

His mother sighed. "We'll be right down. Just stay safe OK?"

Danny smiled in relief. For a second, he thought she would just hang up and go back to bed. But there were lives on the line and she couldn't ignore that.

A light flicked on upstairs in his parents bedroom and he saw the faint silhouette of someone standing behind the curtains. He backed further into the alley in case someone opened them.

The sunlight of the early morning painted the sky a pinkish orange, shedding some light on the dark alley. There was a dumpster that had a terrible smell coming from it, some trash cans, and some food wrappers and plastic cups tossed around carelessly.

Danny crinkled his nose and heard the creak of a door opening, footsteps running outside.

"Come on Jack," his mom said hurriedly.

"I didn't even have breakfast yet," his father complained, but the metallic silver and green form of the Fenton RV soon drove past, shifting over into the wrong lane for a time before correcting itself. Dad must be driving, Danny observed.

He stepped cautiously out of the shadows, making sure the RV was out of site before smashing the cell phone onto the sidewalk. The screen flickered off and formed spiderweb cracks on impact. The back popped off, leaving the square battery unprotected. Danny stomped on it a few times for good measure. Vlad had weird ways of doing things.

He pushed the cell phone's remains into the shadows and sprinted to his front door. It was unlocked and he rushed past into the living room with his mom's extra blankets covering the couch. There was an empty tissue box on the coffee table along with two mugs. His parents must have been spending a lot of time down here if mom dug the blankets out of storage.

He moved on down the stairs to the lab, fumbling for the light switch. With his Dad driving, they'd be at the school soon and find no ghost attack. He needed the Spector Speeder, now.

The lab looked like it hadn't been used in a while. The tables and beakers were clean, no new inventions were in the process of being built, and stray globs of ectoplasm were nowhere to be found. His parents were never that clean when it came to their work.

The Spector Speeder was right in the middle of the lab waiting to be driven, the keys sitting in the drivers seat. Danny smiled and boarded it, leaning back in the drivers seat. The machine was loud starting up, making him flinch, but only for a minute. The loud whir soon faded to a quiet rumbling.

He buckled himself in and turned the Speeder towards the swirling green vortex at the back of the room.

"Here goes nothing."

Danny sped forward and passed through the ghost portal, and into another world all together. The ghost zone was a mix of all different colors and shades, mainly green and purple taking up the atmosphere like smeared paint on an easel. Floating pieces of land rested everywhere, some made of rock and others of a green grass that seemed impossible to exist in a place like this.

Spector's of all sorts floated from place to place, some looking mostly human and others far from it. One, a woman with short dirty blond hair glided curiously up to the window and gazed at him in wonder for a minute before backing away, her head tilted to the side in confusion, like she was expecting to see someone different than who she did. There was even a small, chirping red bird with a ghostly glow that flew away promptly after Danny made eye contact with it.

Clockworks home was not totally out of the way, as long as you knew were you were going. Some ghosts stopped with fearful looks as the Spector Speeder passed them by. It was not often that something that large from the human world appeared here, let alone something with a human (or so they thought) inside it.

At one point, the ghosts and floating pieces of land became more sparse and a single large, rocky island of land with a looming tower of darkened stone in the middle appeared.

Clockworks tower was deep enough in the ghost zone so that very few even knew of its existence, let alone it's purpose. The time ghost did not exactly advertise his job description. 'Out of sight, out of mind' was the way he liked it. Danny suspected that he didn't want a line of people at his door trying to change the time line. Well he was about to get someone whether he liked it or not.

Danny parked the Spector Speeder on the side of the stone tower out of view of any possible passerby and put the keys in his pocket. Stepping out into open air without the aid of ghost powers was a foreign sensation, and it took a minute or two of wriggling around to learn how to propel himself forward and onto the island.

He knocked on the wooden door with its metal knocker and waited, his emotions a swirling concoction of anger, nerves, and his usual curiosity. Clockwork knew he was coming, he always did. So his answer was already decided. If it was the wrong one, changing his mind would be a feat for the world record books.

Danny hated him for what he had done, but was willing to come to a mutual acceptance of him if he changed the timeline again.

The door swung open and the time master himself looked down at Danny. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't look angry. He looked thoughtful, like he was considering something.

He was currently in his elderly form and wearing the purple cloak that Danny was used to seeing him in with the hood pulled over his head.

"Danny," he nodded, and moved aside to let him in.

Danny followed him down the hallway, empty with the exception of a few clocks that hung on the walls at regular intervals. Some were modern day clocks, like something you'd find in a classroom, while others were elegant, such as one with golden Roman numerals and hands. The sound of constant ticking filled the space.

Clockwork stopped at an open doorway and gestured for Danny to follow him in with a wave of his hand. Inside was the room where he'd had his first glimpse of his future self. The walls were gray stone, and of course, adorned by more ticking clocks.

"Why did you kill my sister?" Danny's broken voice asked, his mask of calm sporting a crack down the middle. How could Clockwork act like nothing was wrong when his world was falling apart?

"It had to be done for the sake of the world. The consequences of ignoring the problem were too great."

The time ghost changed to his young adult form, a shorter yet still wise looking version of his other s, and approached a blank circular screen on the wall.

"I can't show you everything, but I can show you this," he said, as the image of Danny sitting on his bed appeared, looking as young as he did now. His baby blue eyes however, were haunting and empty of the life they normally contained. Jazz stood next to him in a blue sweatshirt, both her hands on his shoulders. She looked like she was about to say something, her mouth slightly open.

"What is this?" Danny asked, trying to contain his anger. Jazz shouldn't have had to die for the world. Clockwork was wrong.

"It is a glimpse of what might have been," The time master spoke, waving his hand in front of the screen.

The frozen image began to move like a movie, the character's coming to life.

"You have to let them go Danny," said Jazz softly on screen. "I know it's not easy, but this isn't what they would have wanted for you. They would have wanted you to be happy. You're like this for a reason."

They? Who was they?

"I know you miss them, they were your best friends, but please at least try?" She pleaded. "There are still people who love you."

Danny could have sworn his heart stopped for a second there. Sam and Tucker.

"I can't do this anymore Jazz," said Danny onscreen, his head hung low. "I've had enough. I've caused enough damage. Trust me, things will be better this way."

Jazz looked upon him with pitiful aqua blue eyes, her hands falling from his shoulders. They didn't stay that way however. They took on a sudden malicious gleam that Danny had never seen on her before.

"You're right," she whispered, her voice as sharp as broken glass. "You have to do what's best."

Her voice was her own, yet the words seemed to be coming from another persons lips. Someone who was far colder than the teenager that spoke them.

She leaned back over innocently enough on the bed, stretching her arms in her long black T-shirt so that they touched the floor.

The Danny that sat on the bed didn't acknowledge this. He was deep in thought, running a hand through his messy black hair.

Danny wanted to tell this other him that something was horribly wrong with his sister, that he should keep his guard up, but there was nothing he could do but watch things play out.

Jazz sat back up wearing on her hands something he never expected to see. The Ghost gauntlets, their metal claws sharpened and clean. She grinned at her brother, who was just starting to turn around after noticing that his sister had stopped speaking.

That Danny's eye's widened with confusion and fear as he backed against the wall with his hands up in defense. "Jazz, what are you doing?" he panicked.

"What should have been already done," she replied icily, holding the gauntlets up to her face. "Change, now."

"No! Jazz, what's wrong with you? You what that'll do!"

He started inching towards the door, never taking his eyes off his sister.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she spat, walking over to open the door.

Danny's mother stood there with tears in her eyes, her red hair not brushed and sobbing into her hands. She was wearing her plaid pajamas, a large dark stain on the collar. She didn't move when she saw her oldest daughter with her invention.

Jazz held one of the gauntlet's sharp claws up to her mother's throat. She smiled the whole time, somehow reveling in the pain in her sobs. "You don't want her to die, do you Danny? After all, you've killed enough people, haven't you?"

"What do you want me to do?" Danny put his hands down to his sides and looked at what had become his sister.

"I want us to become what we're destined to be."

By Clockwork's side, Danny reached out and touched the screen, feeling nothing but the cool glass. He couldn't stop it, couldn't outrun his own future. He wanted to believe that none of this was real, that this terrifying reality was just some kind of elaborate lie. But his eye's had been opened to the truth. That reality had been prevented, but the one it had been replaced with was not anything he would wish upon anyone.

His sister was dead because of him, his best friends too. That's why they hadn't been able to track him. They weren't able to anymore. They had all died for his mistakes. It wasn't fair.

"It's almost over," Clockwork said, turning his head to look down at the young half ghost.

Almost wasn't enough. He wanted this to end now. "Turn it off, please," he begged, breathing heavily. "Turn it off!"

It played on, but now the screen showed the lifeless bodies of him and Vlad on what looked like the floor of Vlad's lab, covered in blood. Both halfas eye's were shut as if only sleeping, a peaceful thing under all the blood that coated them.

Danny knew that their deaths had not been painless, not by a long shot.

A figure stood over them both, one with an eerie resemblance to the dead teens ghost half. He wore a black and white jumpsuit and white boots. His skin was tinted a light blue shade and his hair seemed to be made of flames of the same color.

_I still become Dan, _Danny thought, horrified. Jazz was being overshadowed by his older self, used as a pawn to get to him. It couldn't just end with his ghost half being ripped out. He had to become the thing he feared most too. He and Vlad weren't the only ones that would suffer either. There would hundreds, maybe even thousands, of others too. Dying for no purpose but to fulfil the deadly desires of something that never should have existed.

The scene stopped there, with Dan's face staring into his own. He knew it was impossible, but he felt like Dan could see him through the glass like he was taunting him.

_You weren't strong enough to save them. You were just a worthless brat that didn't even deserve to exist._

"No!" Danny said aloud, covering his ears with his hands. "It's not real, it's not real..."

Clockwork wrapped an arm around him, pulling him into a hug. He stiffened. Clockwork wasn't usually the comforting type.

"The deaths of your friends are true in both timeline's, I'm afraid," he said. "But remember what could have been, not what is."

Danny was all out bawling by now. He knew he should be ashamed that he was crying like this, but leaned into Clockwork's grip all the same.

"Daniel!" a voice shouted from across the room.

Danny gasped as he felt himself ripped from Clockwork's side and lifted off the ground.

"Put me down, put me down!" He yelled, struggling in his captors arms.

"Calm down Daniel!"

He froze. Vlad? How did he even find this place? He raised his head and found himself looking into the slightly blue tinted face and red eye's of a very angry Vlad Plasmius.

_Shit, _Danny thought. Of all the times he could have shown up...

"You're hurt," Vlad observed, poking the bandages on one of his arms.

Danny sent a pleading look Clockwork's way. He was way stronger than Vlad. If anyone could help him out of this, it was him.

Clockwork ignored him and started speaking to Vlad. "I assure you," he said with a small smile, "That I have not harmed Danny here in any way. The injuries he has acquired are not my doing."

"They had better not be," Vlad warned.

Danny wasn't sure what to do. He just rested quietly in Vlad's arms, imagining all of the punishments that were sure to come his way for escaping. The least Clockwork could do was give a false warning to Vlad about hurting him.

"We'll be going now," Vlad said coldly, clutching him tighter as if the time ghost would try to snatch him away.

Danny gave one last effort at saving himself and leapt forward away from Vlad and onto the floor. His landing left him sprawled out like a rag doll with a sharp pain in his leg.

The older halfa was too surprised to make a grab for him right away, so Danny rushed past him and into the hallway. The pain in his leg was a dull throbbing.

Looking frantically both ways down the tower's halls, he found he had no idea where he was going. He picked the left on a whim and sprinted, his sneakers pounding on the hard floors. There were almost no doors there for some reason, so he picked the first one he saw, a plain one with an old fashioned knob.

It swung open and he ducked inside, quietly shutting it behind him and sighing with a temporary relief. He likely had a few minutes to come up with a plan. If Vlad picked the wrong hallway, that is.

"Who are you?" someone asked. "Clockwork doesn't often have visitors."

Danny slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from screaming. A one eyed observant in a white robe stood in the corner of the room next to a small table. He was fixing a grandfather clock, the parts scattered all over. A screw rolled off the desk and dropped to the floor as he talked.

"Um, I-" Danny started, but the observant interrupted.

"Now I recognize you. Daniel Fenton. Also Danny Phantom. What are you doing here, child?" His one giant eye blinked. **  
**

"You don't already know?" Danny asked. "Don't you know everything?"

"Not everything," he said, the clock he was working on forgotten. "I see the most likely option, and only for some things. I have not seen your arrival here, due to the fact that part of your future has not been on my mind lately."

"Oh..." So he knew about Dan and Jazz. Great. so much for a private life. How much did these guy's see, exactly? When he was in the shower were they- No! Those thoughts were too disturbing for now. He needed to find somewhere better to hide.

"Please don't tell anyone I'm here," Danny pleaded to the observant. "I'm in trouble and need a place to hide."

The observant seemed to consider this for a moment, his eye unfocused. "I suppose so. Hop in there." He pointed to an unusually large chest pushed against the far side of the wall. It was a dark gray color with a silver latch and blended in with it's surroundings.

Danny nervously looked at the box. He would almost rather deal with Vlad than be in there. For all he knew this observant could lock him in there like a mouse caught in a mousetrap. Whatever reason he would have for keeping a teenager hostage couldn't be good.

"Daniel?" Vlad called from close by. "Don't be silly little badger and just come out. I'm going to find you eventually anyway, so why not make it easier on both of us?"

It sounded like he was only a few doors down, and heading in the right direction.

The observant decided he wasn't moving fast enough then and dragged him over to the chest by the back of his shirt. Danny allowed himself to be led and popped open the lid.

The chest was empty and definitely big enough to hold a person, so Danny could fit easily with only having to bend his legs a little lying down. He wondered what a chest this big was used for.

The observant looked like he might've smiled encouragingly if he was able to as he closed the chest and left Danny in darkness. The latch didn't come back down.

The only sounds were the ones of screws and bolts as the observant continued working on the clock. It was looking like he was actually going to keep his word.

The sound of a door opening made Danny's heart start racing.

"Excuse me," Vlad's voice interrupted. "Have you seen a boy come through here recently?"

"Not that I have seen," the observant replied not a trace of the lie he was telling evident.

Danny wished he had that skill. It would make his life a whole lot easier. He was a terrible liar, always tending to smile whenever he tried to tell one.

He wasn't claustrophobic, but despite the size of the chest, he was feeling very restricted. He shifted his leg for a change of position, making a scraping sound when his sneaker slid against the side. He stopped moving and broke out in a cold sweat, listening.

The voices outside stopped, and footsteps quickly came to the front of the chest. The lid was lifted and light overtook the previous darkness.

"Ah, there you are," Vlad said, grabbing his wrist tightly and yanking him out of the chest. "You've certainly caused me quite a bit of trouble."

He almost toppled over onto the floor but managed to keep his balance. The observant that had helped him was now giving him a pitiful look as his captor continued to scold him.

"You never listen, do you?" Vlad went on, his eye's brightening with his anger. "I had to search all over the town and the ghost zone for you! Skulker told me you'd probably been killed!"

The older halfa shook the teen by his shoulders roughly. Danny was scared that he was going to lose it again and really hurt him again. If he did, it would be worse than just a simple blow or smack.

A whimper escaped the teens throat, and Vlad stopped shaking him and pursed his lips together. "I'm glad you're safe, I suppose," he admitted, keeping one hand firmly on Danny's shoulder.

He nervously messed the boys hair while complaining about all of the danger that he had gotten himself into. The sender way he was talking made if look like he did this sort of thing all the time.

Danny's eye's widened. What the hell was this? Mind games, or a show for the observant? Plasmius had to keep up his image, but caring for a runaway teenager wouldn't help any. It would make him look weaker, that he had a soft spot for something previously hidden away.

He wasn't completely closed off to the idea that Vlad might care for him in some screwed up way, but he didn't want to believe it. It was so unnatural.

The observant made his way over to Vlad and clasped his hands in front of him. "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Plasmius. When the boy here said he was in danger from someone, I assumed it was something severe. I can see he's in good hands. I'm sure the other's will come to see it too, in time."

"Thank you," Vlad replied, flabbergasted by his behavior. "I certainly try my best with him, but sometimes things get out of hand."

He clutched Danny to his side with his arm. Danny was starting to feel very awkward, very fast and felt heat burning in his cheeks.

"Time to go back to the home," Vlad announced, and snatched him up by the back of his shirt until his feet couldn't touch the ground.

"I can walk," Danny said, rolling his eyes. "I feel fine."

This was embarrassing. Being man handled by your arch enemy in front of a powerful ghost didn't boost anyone's ego any. Said ghost was watching him with open interest too. Danny figured the word of what had happened here would spread like wildfire around the tower.

"I don't care," Vlad growled, and proceeded to turn them both intangible and phase through the outer wall.

The observant watched them go, wondering what on earth Danny Phantom was doing with Vlad Plasmius. Perhaps the future had changed its course. He had been wrong before.

* * *

Vlad had thrown Danny into the back seat of the Spector Speeder like a discarded toy and demanded the keys from him. Danny had handed then over reluctantly and dropped them into his open hand.

The ride back to Fenton Works to return the Speeder was a silent one. Vlad drove while Danny sat in the back. Danny wondered where Vlad even learned to drive something like this but opted to not ask.

He maneuvered his way through the swirling world of green and purple, every ghost who saw him carefully staying a good distance away.

Danny squirmed in his seat, unable to get comfortable. Pulling on the seat belt wasn't as distracting as he hoped it would be. He watched the back of Vlad's head, his white cape hanging over the side of his seat as he drove.

He wished he knew what the other halfa was thinking. It would help ease his nerves a lot, knowing what to expect.

Once the familiar opening of his family's portal was in sight, Vlad stalled the Spector Speeder and unbuckled his seat belt. He walked over to Danny and did the same.

"We're just dropping this off," Vlad said, giving him a firm look that said, _You try anything and you'll regret it. _

He nodded and gripped the hand rail as they passed through the portal. Nothing had changed about the lab since his visit with Clockwork, a depressing reminder that nothing could be done for the present. If only things had turned out just a little bit different, none of this would be happening.

His parents would be down here working away while his sister was upstairs reading her psychology magazines and studying for her latest test. Vlad would be plotting, as usual, and Danny would be confident enough ready to stop him.

He wasn't now, confident, that is. He was suffocating in grief and regret. He dying sick and- Wait. He hadn't been feeling sick lately, strangely.

He looked down at himself as if the answer was written on his skin. The bracelet on his arm was still stained brown in places from dried blood.

"Vlad?" Danny asked bravely as the older halfa was opening the door to the Speeder after shutting off the ignition.

"Yes?" He replied, turning to face him.

Surprisingly, he didn't look as threatening as usual. He had no sarcastic smile or scowl, his mouth just formed a small frown that made him appear depressed. Even his ghostly glow seemed dimmer somehow.

"Why haven't I been sick lately?" Danny blurted, transfixed by this odd change of attitude.

Vlad's frown turned up into a smile, but it was a forced one. "I'm surprised you hadn't noticed earlier, little badger. In fact you have started taking your medicine recently. It is working even better than I hoped for."

Medicine? Why had no one told him that the cure for his terminal illness had been found? Or that he was taking it?

"When did you manage to do that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Does it really matter?" Vlad asked, knowing full well that it did.

"Stop with the mind games," Danny said, crossing his arms over his chest. "And no avoiding the question."

His response was to quickly grab him by the wrist and turn then both intangible.

"Hey!" Danny started, but a hand was slapped over his mouth.

"Jack, I'm sorry," Mom sighed, appearing at the bottom of the staircase. "I should've called the school first."

"It's fine," Dad replied, coming halfway downstairs. "You couldn't have known it was a hoax."

She stepped up a few steps and embraced him, throwing her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and held her soothingly as she sighed wearily.

Danny watched the scene with a smile. At least they had each other. The puzzle that was his family would never fit quite right again, but this was something, at least.

He was rising off the ground now, an arm wrapped around his middle. His parents were not even aware that their second child was in the same room as them, or how desperately he wanted to be with them. He wanted them to know he was there. He reached out a hand futilely as he left the lab behind for the outside.

Vlad became visible in the same alley that Danny had hidden in before and let go of his wrist. He looked around at the trash in disgust.

"Now answer me," Danny demanded, stepping out of the alley to lean against a brick wall. "Or I swear, I will scream."

"Well aren't you just adorable?" Vlad chuckled. "You really think you can get ahead of me that easily? I'd have you far away from here by the time someone came out to investigate. But I suppose there's no harm in answering your little question.

Remember that sandwich you had on the plane?" He grinned.

"You drugged me," Danny confirmed, his eye's narrowing.

He was not some kind of lab rat! Whether it worked or not, Vlad couldn't just use drugs on him without his consent.

"I wasn't trying to harm you. I was saving your life."

"I don't care! I need to know these things, you psychotic fruit loop!"

He sank to his knees on the ground and lay back against the wall of the building. What was he going to do with his life now? Move back in with his parents maybe, providing Vlad would mind his own business. This was his life now, and whatever he decided to do with it, he wanted it to be his choice.

He was so dead set on getting Clockwork to fix things that he didn't want to consider what he would do if they couldn't be. It seemed impossible, to live without people that you cared about so much. But he was still breathing, his heart was still beating.

"Do you want to...get something to eat, Daniel?" Vlad asked cautiously, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Danny nodded. There wasn't much else to do.


End file.
